TRAUMATIC RUPTURE OF THE THORACIC AORTA - COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY MAY BE A DANGEROUS WASTE OF TIME

Authors
UNSWORTHWHITE MJ BUCKENHAM T TREASURE T
Citation
Mj. Unsworthwhite et al., TRAUMATIC RUPTURE OF THE THORACIC AORTA - COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY MAY BE A DANGEROUS WASTE OF TIME, Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 76(6), 1994, pp. 381-383
Citations number
7
Categorie Soggetti
Surgery
Journal title
Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England → ACNP
ISSN journal
00358843
Volume
76
Issue
6
Year of publication
1994
Pages
381 - 383
Database
ISI
SICI code
0035-8843(1994)76:6<381:TROTTA>2.0.ZU;2-H
Abstract
Traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta is a justifiably feared condit ion. Some authors have proposed the use of computed tomography as a no ninvasive means of diagnosis. We report two cases where computed tomog raphic scans were misinterpreted, leading to erroneous diagnoses and i nappropriate referrals. The pitfalls of using a cross-sectional imagin g technique to diagnose a transverse lesion and the relative ease and accuracy of aortography are discussed.