Classically, aortic dissection presents as tearing or ripping chest pain that radiates to the back in a HYPERtensive patient.
However, type A aortic dissections can quickly become HYPOtensive due to any the primary cardiac complications from retrograde dissection into:
Bedside echo can't rule out aortic dissection, but it can help rule in the diagnosis (figure 1) or complications (figure 2) at times.
