The tear in the aorta that caused the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Saturday night is an immediately life-threatening emergency that can cause symptoms similar to those of a heart attack.
Graham’s office reported Sunday that the medical examiner’s preliminary findings indicated that Graham, 71, died from an “aortic dissection due to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease,” meaning hardening of the arteries.
Graham died after emergency personnel responded to a “cardiac arrest” call at his Capitol Hill residence, according to police radio audio obtained by NBC News.
An aortic dissection is a tear in the inner layer of the main artery that carries blood from the heart, explained Dr. Ann Marie Navar, a cardiologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
It can cause severe internal bleeding and, ultimately, organ failure. A dissection can block blood flow to the heart itself or cause blood to pool around it, compressing the heart and preventing it from pumping blood to the body.
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Atherosclerotic disease, or plaque buildup in the aorta, can be a risk factor for dissection, Navar said.
“If cholesterol builds up in the walls of the aorta, this weakens the aortic wall,” he explained. “If that progresses and the aortic wall tears, it can lead to dissection.”
Aortic dissection is a rare condition, although it may be underdiagnosed, cardiologists suggest. About 13,000 people die each year in the United States from an aortic dissection, according to a report published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Men 60 years or older with high blood pressure or atherosclerosis they are at greater risk.
An aortic dissection can occur without warning and can quickly be fatal. Symptoms often resemble a heart attack, with sudden, severe pain in the chest, neck, jaw, or back, difficulty breathing, or loss of consciousness.
“If it can be diagnosed quickly enough, it often requires emergency surgery, and that can be life-saving,” Navar said. “But if it happens very quickly and there is no time to get to the hospital, then you die.”
A senior official on Graham’s team said there was “no indication” he was feeling unwell.
Just a day earlier, Graham had returned from a trip to kyiv, Ukraine, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. After his trip, there was no indication that Graham was feeling unwell, a senior member of his team told NBC News on Sunday.
The president, Donald Trump, declared on the program Meet the Press of NBC News that he had spoken to Graham a few hours before his death and that “other than being tired, he was doing well.”
The emergency services who responded to Graham’s home They initially reported a cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest is caused by an electrical short circuit in the heart, which causes it to stop beating and pumping blood to the rest of the body. Cardiac arrest is almost always fatal when it occurs outside of a hospital.
While healthcare professionals were caring for Graham at home, CPR was being performed on him, EMS audio recordings indicate.
An aortic dissection can cause cardiac arrest. The definitive results of the toxicological and microscopic analyzes have not yet been released.
Graham’s death follows the hospitalization of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. In June, paramedics reportedly treated an unconscious person in cardiac arrest at McConnell’s home.
In a statement issued this Sunday, McConnell stated that he fell and was unconscious for a brief moment, but his doctors confirmed that he had not suffered a heart attack or stroke.
