School ager with chest wall ecchymosis post motor vehicle accident

Cardiovascular
CT of false positive thoracic aortic injury / aortic dissection
Non-gated axial (above left) and coronal (above right) CT with contrast of the chest show a line in the lumen of the aorta from the sinotubular junction to the origin of the brachiocephalic artery. Repeat gated axial (below left) and coronal (below right) CT with contrast of the chest show absence of the previously seen line in the lumen of the aorta from the sinotubular junction to the origin of the brachiocephalic artery.

The diagnosis was false positive thoracic aortic injury due to the non-gated nature of the original CT scan.

Published