[Imaging of patients post blunt trauma to the chest]

Blunt chest traumas are a major concern in the setting of high-speed deceleration accidents, since they are associated with a high mortality rate. However, their prompt diagnosis and treatment allows for significant improvement of blunt chest trauma patient's clinical prognosis. If chest radiograph remains the initial screening test, the role of CT is increasing since it provides fast, sensitive, accurate and exhaustive survey of blunt chest trauma patients. The purpose of this article is to review the various radiological and CT patterns of blunt chest lesions.