Chest radiography in acute aortic syndrome: pearls and pitfalls

Acute aortic syndrome is a group of life-threatening diseases of the thoracic aorta that usually present to the emergency department. It includes aortic dissection, aortic intramural hematoma, and penetrating aortic ulcer. Rare aortic pathologies of aorto-esophageal fistula and mycotic aneurysm may also be included in this list. All these conditions require urgent treatment with complex clinical care and management. Most patients who present with chest pain are evaluated with a chest radiograph in the emergency department. It is important that maximum diagnostic information is extracted from the chest radiograph as certain signs on the chest radiograph are extremely useful in pointing towards the diagnosis of acute aortic syndrome.