Medical Image of the Week: Aortic Tear

Figure 1.  Portable chest x-ray demonstrating widened mediastinum with an apical cap, consistent with aortic rupture.

A 56-year old man presented as a trauma victim with the chief complaint of severe back pain. He was hemodynamically acceptable on arrival, but arrested shortly after this portable film was obtained (Figure 1). Emergency Department (ED) thoracotomy revealed a 3 cm longitudinal tear of the thoracic aorta and he exsanguinated in the ED.

Jarrod M. Mosier, MD

Department of Medicine and Emergency Medicine

Emergency Medicine-Critical Care Program

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

Reference as: Mosier JM. Medical image of the week: aortic tear. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care. 2013;7(5): . doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13175/swjpcc152-13 PDF