South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham died Sunday of a cardiac condition called aortic dissection, reportedly after he opted to put off seeing a doctor about it until later that day. But we talked with a local expert who says fast action in such a situation can save your life.
Graham had been set to appear on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday and reportedly wanted to see a doctor after that, but he didn’t get the chance. Dr. Ashfaq Turk, director of cardiac catheterization and interventional cardiology at Saint Joseph Medical Center Mishawaka, says an aortic dissection is a tearing of the aorta, the major artery that supplies blood to the body. It can happen due to old age, high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, or genetics.
”Most of the time if the tear originates from the heart that is a medical emergency," Turk says. "You have to go to surgery right away. Otherwise the tear is going to extend and get resulted rupture of the aorta, and once the aorta ruptures you basically bleed to death and there’s no treatment after that.”
Turk says that unless you know you’ve pulled a muscle or eaten something that could give you indigestion, you should always quickly seek medical attention if you have sharp chest pains.
“Usually the pain is in the center of the chest which radiates to the back between your shoulder blades and it feels like something is tearing.”
