FAD is normally associated with Marfan syndrome, Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, and various other genetic disorders which affect the connective tissues of the cardiovascular system. There are various mechanisms by which the medial layers of the lumen are stressed and eventually torn. Once torn these areas begin to fill with blood and become susceptible to aneurysm formation. Depending on the location of the tear, FAD normally affects the ascending or descending aorta, where the primary characteristic of a bulge can be seen. This bulge is the result of the creation of a false lumen due to the vast amount of blood seepage from the aortas and surrounding veins. In some cases it is not uncommon to see degeneration in the ascending and descending aorta and the atrioventricular and semilunar valves due to elastolysis or breakdown and loss of elastic fibers. These connective tissue malfunctions are traceable to mutations, and lack of genes encoding for important components such as collagens, and micro-fibril-associated glycoproteins. Breakdown among these connective layers eventually compromises the integrity of the aortic lumen. Depending on the extent of pooling and damage to the blood vessel, the Svensson system was created to diagnose and describe the five classes of pathological processes that may be visible due to the<unk> . Class 1 refers to any<unk>  with a true and false lumen. Class 2 specifically depends on the presence of hematoma or hemorrhaging at the site of the<unk> . Class 3 is a<unk>  without hematoma. Class 4 is recognized by the presence of an ulcer among the lumen. Class 5 has to do with any sort of traumatic hemorrhaging in the<unk> . Class 5, in the most case, is the most severe and life-threatening due to large amounts of rapid blood loss. Those experiencing aortic<unk>  typically will complain of agonizing pains described with a ripping feeling in the chest that for some may migrate to their backs. Anything that compromises or obstructs the amount of blood flow and the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to the walls of the ascending and descending aorta has a large impact on the viability of the layers of the surrounding lumen. Chronic hypertension, Inflammatory disease, excessive plaque build-up among coronary walls, intimal thickening, and arteriosclerosis are all believed to increase the likelihood of FAD occurring in an individual.
Familial aortic dissection
Familial thoracic aortic aneurysm
Familial atrial fibrillation
Takayasu's arteritis
Arterial tortuosity syndrome
Inflammatory aortic aneurysm
Monckeberg's arteriosclerosis
Coronary artery aneurysm