[Rupture of the aorta complicating multiple injuries (author's transl)]

A case of subtotal circumferential rupture of the aorta is described which involved a woman who had sustained multiple injuries in a traffic accident. The rupture was discovered only during autopsy. As this type of injury is generally not diagnosed until after death, knowledge of some of the characteristics signs of rupture of the aorta is important, especially to the physician in charge of an intensive care unit. If there are suspicious signs aortography is essential. The only treatment likely to succeed is surgery, but postoperative mortality is still as high as 20--40 per cent.