Understanding Dissecting Aneurysms: Origin and Mechanism

Dissecting aneurysm gets its name due to the separation the dissection creates between arterial layers. This phenomenon mimics when one part of one page on a book gets slightly bent away and separated from the paper. If we now place that bent corner between our nails and start separating both halves, a dissection starts, in this case involving paper layers, rather than layers of artery walls within a vessel or the layers of the aorta.