Chest trauma: Blunt aortic and cardiac trauma

Blunt chest trauma may result in serious and potentially life threatening injuries to heart and great vessels. Appropriate imaging is required to rule out these injuries. (1) Several findings on chest x-ray concerning for aortic injury have been described, and presence of these findings mandates CT for further characterization, which is the current standard for evaluation of the thoracic aorta. In contrast, cardiac contusion may be difficult to diagnose with imaging modalities, and evaluation should focus on physiologic parameters, with the employment of echocardiography in the presence of clinical abnormalities.