Background and purpose: Type A acute aortic dissection is a serious life-threatening condition that requires emergency surgery. Development of complications and operative management may be affected by various factors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors and outcomes after surgical treatment of acute type A dissection.

Materials and methods: A Cross-sectional descriptive study was done in two phases during March 2010 and June 2015, in Fatemeh Zahra Hospital, Sari, Iran. The research population included the patients who had surgery for treatment of type A acute aortic dissection. In phase I a checklist was completed (using the patients records, n=25) that consisted of demographic, clinical and imaging data, and the information that was recorded during the operation. In next phase, laboratory analysis and postoperative echocardiography were conducted for seven patients.

Results: Phase I showed that none of the patients had Marfan syndrome, history of hyperlipidemia and diabetes. Frequency of other risk factors (history of hypertension, history of smoking, chronic pulmonary disease, renal failure, cardiac surgery, aortic arch involvement, bicuspid aortic valve, and cardiac tamponade) were found to be different in patients. In phase II, we observed death in three cases after being discharged from the hospital and prediction of morbidity rate was not possible due to low number of samples.

Conclusion: Gender and functional class were found as the risk factors in patients who had syrgery for acute aortic dissection.