ABSTRACT
Important and dramatic as blunt aortic injuries are, nontraumatic aortic disease can be equally so. The forensic specialist must take into account other pathologic states that are known to affect the aorta and can lead to aneurysmal formation or spontaneous rupture with or without dissection. Those most frequently encountered are cystic medial necrosis, atherosclerosis, syphilis, and localized arteritis of varying etiologies. Cocaine-related thoracic aortic dissection has also been reported.29,30
Factors that predispose to dissection include hypertension, diabetes, pregnancy, smoking, hyperlipidemia, congenital aortic valve disease, connective tissue diseases, and blunt and penetrating injuries that were unrecognized following the initial insult.
