Dr. Crandall: Holbrooke’s Condition Rare but Deadly

The torn aorta that took the life of 69-year-old diplomat Richard Holbrooke is a rare but catastrophic event that can lead to death even with the best and most immediate treatment, cardiologist Dr. Chauncey Crandall tells Newsmax Health. He said the ailment is often associated with high blood pressure and smoking.

“This torn aorta was really a catastrophic event,” Crandall said. “It’s rarely seen. It involves a tear or a rip in the aorta as the aorta leaves the heart. This tear causes what is called a dissection in the aorta that spirals around the aorta and in fact, with Mr. Holbrooke, it appears that this dissection or tear went all the way through the aorta into the lower limbs of the body.”

The tear develops in the inner of three layers of the blood vessel. Blood enters the area between the inner and middle layers causing them to dissect or separate. If the blood should break through the outer layer, massive blood loss occurs, leading to death.

Crandall, the editor of the Heart Health Report and Newsmax contributor, said the condition, which also took the life of actor John Ritter at age 54 and led to a multi-million dollar lawsuit on claims of misdiagnosis, is rare. He said in his cardiology practice with 12,000 patients he sees only one or two cases a year. He said the condition calls for immediate diagnosis and some risky surgery.

“Unfortunately the surgery requires that the body undergo deep hypothermia,” he said. “So they really cool down the body and stop the circulation and actually the patient is clinically dead during this procedure. There’s no anesthesia, the body is somewhat frozen and they quickly repair the aorta and then they warm the body back up.”

He said the symptoms of such an event include a stabbing, unrelenting pain. The factors most commonly associated with the condition are elevated blood pressure, elevated levels of cholesterol, smoking, and stress, a condition well-known to Holbrooke.

“(Holbrooke) was living a very stressful life and the aorta just basically gave out,” Crandall said.

Holbrooke had a long and storied diplomatic career involving a list of the world hot spots of the last 50 years. During his career he was involved in the conflicts in Vietnam and Bosnia, where he helped broker the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war. Most recently, he was working for the Obama administration as a special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also worked as a writer, editor, and investment banker.

“I would categorize this as a work-related death,” Crandall said. “This was a death due to extreme stress from work.”