What are the causes of aortic dissection?
Aortic dissection has been linked to various causes. The most common one being the presence of an underlying, slow degradation of the cells that make up the walls of your aorta. The breakdown usually starts to occur years before it eventually results in a tear of the weakened part of the aorta resulting in aortic dissection.
Why does the aortic wall weaken in certain people and not others? Studies show that most aortic dissections occur due to a preexisting vulnerability that may be inherited. In some cases, stress to the aortic wall due to high blood pressure in susceptible people may result in a tear and dissection.
Studies show that aortic dissection in the ascending aorta, that is the section closest to the heart where the pressure is the highest, is about two times more common than the dissection that occurs in the descending aorta. Tears in the aorta usually occur in regions where the stress on the wall of the aorta is highest.