Aortic Dissection Awareness Day UK 2021

Aortic Dissection Awareness Day UK 2021 – In Pictures

Christina Bannister

The 6th annual Aortic Dissection Awareness Day UK on 16th September 2021 was hosted by the Bristol Aortic Service, with SCTS member Mr Cha Rajakaruna speaking on behalf of the Society. The theme of the day was ‘Responding to the national challenge of acute Aortic Dissection’.

Mr Rajakaruna spoke about how SCTS has responded to and is engaged with the national patient association, AD Awareness UK & Ireland. He shared the latest data showing a strong upward trend in surgical procedures for acute Type A dissection nationally and explained that the Society attributes this to increased awareness from initiatives such as the patient association’s successful THINK AORTA campaign, in which SCTS is a founding partner, together with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and Heart Research UK.

The Chair of AD Awareness UK & Ireland, Mr Gareth Owens, thanked SCTS for being a good friend to the national patient association and for seeking, through its membership and through the specialist subgroup of the UK Aortic Society, to improve care and outcomes for Aortic Dissection patients like him. He also thanked Terumo Aortic for sponsoring the event. The keynote speech was delivered by Dr Stephen Drage, Director of Investigations at the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch, who spoke about HSIB’s investigation, report and recommendations regarding the national problem of delayed recognition of Aortic Dissection, published in January 2020. The Presidents of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and the Royal College of Radiologists explained how their respective colleges have worked together in an unprecedented initiative to produce joint guidance on acute Aortic Dissection which they will publish shortly for the guidance of their members. Mr Owens welcomed this great teamwork, noting that multidisciplinary teamwork is what these patients need and reminding clinicians present that “my aorta doesn’t care about your professional boundaries”.

Prof. Rob Sayers, Chair of the NHS England Vascular Clinical Reference Group, spoke about the new NHS England ‘Toolkit’ for acute Aortic Dissection that will apparently replace the long-promised national service specification, which is now not planned to be published. His fellow vascular surgeon, Miss Rachel Bell, President-Elect of the Vascular Society, gave an impassioned

“Hands-up if you’ve survived an Aortic Dissection”- patients and relatives gathered in Bristol wanting improved diagnosis, care and outcomes in Aortic Dissection

speech about the national problem of Aortic Dissection and how the Vascular Society, with others, is responding to the challenge laid down by patients.

A highlight of the day was when the room rose to its feet and gave a standing ovation to Mrs Haleema Saadia, after hearing her powerful and moving account of experiencing an acute Aortic Dissection during pregnancy at the age of 21 and undergoing five cardiac surgeries before her beautiful daughter Ruqqayah (who was also present), was delivered. Mrs Saadia is a patient of SCTS member Mr Jorge Mascaro at the QEII hospital in Birmingham.

For the final session of the day, previous chair of the SCTS Research Committee Prof. Gavin Murphy gave an update on the strategic research partnership that his team at the BHF Cardiovascular Sciences Research Centre at the University of Leicester have formed with AD Awareness UK & Ireland and the progress being made in creating the necessary evidence and decision support tools to implement a targeted screening pathway for non-syndromic families at risk of Aortic Dissection.

At the close of AD Awareness Day UK, the Chair announced that the honour of hosting next year’s event, on Monday 19th September 2022, has been awarded to University College London, in recognition of their research work in ‘Engineering the Future of Aortic Surgery’, which will be the theme of the day.

Aortic Dissection Awareness UK & Ireland also plan to be present at the SCTS Annual Meeting in Belfast in March. They encourage all SCTS members to visit their stand, meet some patients, hear their amazing stories and talk about their work. n

Mr Cha Rajakaruna speaks at AD Awareness Day UK on behalf of SCTS Prof. Gavin Murphy updates the audience on progress in the strategic research partnership between his team at Leicester and AD Awareness UK & Ireland Strong multidisciplinary support for the patient campaign to address the national challenge of acute Aortic Dissection is demonstrated over coffee at AD Awareness Day UK

Mrs Haleema Saadia, Vice-Chair of the national patient association, received a standing ovation for sharing her powerful story of maternal Aortic Dissection