EchoBridge Pearl #19: Differentiating True vs False Lumen in Aortic Dissection
- Stephen Alerhand
- 4 days ago
- 1 min read
When an intimal flap is identified, distinguishing the true lumen from the false lumen can help confirm the diagnosis and guide interpretation.
The false lumen is typically larger, expands during diastole, and often demonstrates spontaneous echocardiographic contrast ("smoke") due to slower blood flow. In contrast, the true lumen is usually smaller and expands during systole as blood is ejected from the left ventricle.
đź“– Goldstein SA, Evangelista A, Abbara S, et al. Multimodality imaging of diseases of the thoracic aorta in adults: from the American Society of Echocardiography and the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging: endorsed by the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography and Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2015.
📖 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦, Qiu L, Adrian RJ. What Echocardiographic Findings Suggest Acute Type A Aortic Dissection? J Emerg Med. 2025.
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