Diagnostic imaging of acute thoracic injury

In recent years, the advent of multidetector CT (MDCT) has begun to change the imaging approach to patients sustaining blunt or penetrating thoracic injury. The ability to directly detect some injuries that are often occult on chest radiography, such as pericardial hemorrhage, major thoracic vascular injury, small pneumothorax, and diaphragm tears, as well as the ability to better define the extent of other injuries, such as lung contusion and laceration, account for this transition. This article reviews current concepts of diagnostic imaging in acute chest trauma from both blunt force and penetrating mechanisms, emphasizing the spectrum of diagnostic imaging findings for various injuries, primarily based on multidetector MDCT.