Understanding Risks of an Aortic Aneurysm - LVHN News

Grant Wahl's wife said that Wahl died from the "rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium." The chest pressure he experienced shortly before his death may have represented the initial symptoms. When the ascending aortic aneurysm ruptures, it ruptures into the pericardium, or the heart sac. Blood accumulates rapidly inside the sac and basically compresses or squeezes the heart so that it can no longer function. This is called pericardial tamponade. This leads to cardiac arrest.

Patients with dissection die the same way, usually with pericardial tamponade. John Ritter died of an aortic dissection. It was not clear if dissection was involved in Wahl's death.

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