How long could someone live with aortic dissection without being hospitalized?

Years: Depending on where the dissection occurs and if it is expanding. As long as the dissection is in the descending aorta and isn't causing any symptoms - just good blood pressure control is all that may be needed.

Dissection: Aortic dissection is a life threatening condition but an occassional patient will have evidence for a past dissection without having been hospitalized. Extrapolating from history this can sometimes be a long time. We don't really know how often this happens but believe it to be rare.