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Updated: Oct 3, 2026
Identifying Coronary Artery Calcification on Non-gated Computed Tomography Scans
Published on: August 28, 2018
Do we really need routine computed tomographic scanning in the primary evaluation of blunt chest trauma in patients
A K Exadaktylos1, G Sclabas, S W Schmid
1Trauma and Emergency Unit, Inselspital, University of Berne, Inselspital, Berne, Switzerland. exaris@hotmail.com
Background:
A major cause of morbidity and mortality after blunt chest trauma remains undetected injuries. This study evaluates the role of routine computed tomographic (CT) scan.
Methods:
We studied 93 consecutive patients from January 1999 to July 2000: 73 (76.3%) after motor vehicle crash with crash speed > 10 mph, and 22 (23.7%) after fall from height > 5 ft. Simultaneous with initial clinical evaluation, anteroposterior chest radiograph and helical chest CT scan were obtained for all patients.
Results:
Sixty-eight patients (73.1%) showed at least one pathologic sign on chest radiograph, and 25 patients (26.9%) had normal chest radiograph. In 13 (52.0%) of these 25 patients, the CT scan showed multiple injuries; among these were two aortic lacerations, three pleural effusions, and one pericardial effusion.
Conclusion:
Over 50% of patients with normal initial chest radiograph showed multiple injuries on the CT scan, among which were also two (8%) potentially fatal aortic lesions. We therefore recommend primary routine chest CT scan in all patients with major chest trauma.
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