Cross-sectional imaging of thoracic traumatic aortic injury

Aortic injury remains a major contributor to morbidity and mortality from acute thoracic trauma. While such injuries were once nearly uniformly fatal, the advent of cross-sectional imaging in recent years has facilitated rapid diagnosis and triage, greatly improving outcomes. In fact, cross-sectional imaging is now the diagnostic test of choice for traumatic aortic injury (TAI), specifically computed tomography angiography (CTA) in the acute setting and CTA or magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in follow-up. In this review, we present an up-to-date discussion of acute traumatic thoracic aortic injury with a focus on optimal and emerging CT/MR techniques, imaging findings of TAI, and potential pitfalls.