Weight loss surgery lowers the risk of aortic dissection risk: JACS

Weston, FL: Bariatric surgery (weight loss surgery) may lower the risk of aortic dissection and should be considered in obese patients having risk factors for this cardiovascular complication, suggests a recent study in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Aortic dissection is a life-threatening condition associated with high mortality and morbidity. Hypertension is the most common modifiable risk factor and bariatric surgery is linked to remission of comorbidities related to obesity such as hypertension. So, Luis Felipe Okida, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston, FL, and colleagues hypothesized that surgical-weight loss might protect against this feared aortic pathology. They aimed to analyze, the impact of bariatric surgery on aortic dissection for the first time.

For the purpose, the researcher used the National Inpatient Sample database from 2010 to 2015.  2,300,845 patients participants were divided into two groups: patients who underwent bariatric surgery (treatment group; n=296,041) and patients with obesity (control group; n=2,004,804) having BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 without previous bariatric surgery.

A multivariate logistic regression analysis (MLRA) was performed to assess the risk of aortic dissection in both groups.  

Key findings of the study include:

"Bariatric surgery provides protection against aortic dissection and should be considered in obese patients with risk factors for this highly morbid cardiovascular complication," concluded the authors. 

The study, "Bariatric Surgery Decreases the Risk of Developing Aortic Dissection: A Nationwide Case-Control Analysis," is published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

DOI: https://www.journalacs.org/article/S1072-7515(20)30606-2/fulltext