Traumatic aortic injury: CT findings, mimics, and therapeutic options

Objective: Traumatic aortic injury (TAI) is rare, but frequently lethal. However, with prompt diagnosis, patients can undergo life-saving open or endovascular repair. Unfortunately, because these injuries are relatively rare, subtle forms of these injuries may be missed, and normal variants may mimic TAI leading to misdiagnosis.
Conclusions: We will discuss computed tomography findings of typical injury patterns of traumatic aortic injuries as well as treatment options, diagnostic pitfalls and injury mimics. These are highlighted with clinical case examples.