Abstract

Acute Traumatic Aortic Disruption and Right Aortic Arch: A Fatal Diagnosis

Acute traumatic aortic disruption occurs after forceful deceleration and usually due to motor accidents. Only 10 % to 15 % reach a treatment facility alive and a highly suspicious state is needed for timely diagnosis. Most time they suffer multiple associated lethal injuries. Asymptomatic and isolated right aortic arch is a rare anomaly of the aorta with a prevalence of 0.5% [3]. Its diagnosis is by radiologic studies. We present this patient to remember that the incidental right aortic arch and disruption may interpreted as the left side mediastinal rotation in radiography and so inadvertently lead to late diagnosis and a futile outcome. A 24-year old man was brought to emergency room following a motor accident. He had Glascow Coma Scale Score: 14-15/15 but with stable vital signs. After primary survey chest radiography, emergency abdominal sonography (eFAST) and brain CT scanning were requested. Spiral thoracoabdominal CT was also requested about seven hours after admission and when the patient entered an unstable hemodynamic phase. The primary survey was unremarkable. His chest radiography had left mediastinal rotation, which is opposite to what is seen pathologically in the condition of the traumatic aortic disruption, the right mediastinal rotation. His eFAST and brain CT were normal. The patient remained stable until seven hours after admission when the patient becomes unstable. Massive pleural effusion with aortic disruption and a right aortic arch was seen in thoracoabdominal CT. He transferred to the operation room but arrested during transfer. Massive hemothorax was seen during open cardiac massage. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was unsuccessful. This may raises that in any blunt trauma patient with highly suspicious history for the great vessel injury, it may be better to consider the spiral chest CT scanning as the primary radiologic test for evaluation of the chest trauma and not waste the time or resources with rely simply on a chest radiography.

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