Abstract
Acute aortic dissection (AAD) can be said to be a relatively uncommon emergency with fatal outcomes mainly due to delayed/missed diagnosis and treatment. Its ability to masquerade as other emergencies like acute coronary syndrome and pulmonary embolism makes the prognosis unfavorable in a significant proportion of patients. Patients have been seen to present to the accident and emergency department or outpatient setting with typical or atypical symptoms as we will discuss in this article. We have focused on indicators for risk and prognosis of acute Stanford type A aortic dissection in this traditional review. It is well known that despite recent developments and improvements in treatment modalities, AAD is still associated with a significant mortality rate and postoperative complications.