Atherosclerotic disruption of the aortic arch during coronary artery bypass operation

A 70-year-old-man presented with a symptomatic three vessel coronary artery disease and was scheduled for myocardial revascularization. During extracorporeal circulation an intrathoracal bleeding occurred and aortic rupture was suspected. An iatrogenic plaque rupture in the concavity of the aortic arch was found due to cannulation attempts. The aortic arch was grafted in the so-called elephant trunk technique. Thereafter bypass grafts were anastomosed to the stenosed coronary arteries. The patient was discharged from hospital after 2 weeks in good condition.