Chronic Traumatic Aneurysm of the Thoracic Aorta

Abstract

A NEURYSMS of the thoracic aorta due to blunt trauma are likely to occur at the top of the descending aorta just distal to the origin of the left subclavian artery and insertion of the ligamentum arteriosum.¹ Sudden death may occur if all layers of the aorta rupture. If the adventitia is spared, there is hemorrhage due to partial aortic rupture, producing a mediastinal hematoma that at first obscures the arch and then tends to localize at the top of the aorta adjacent to the aortic knob and form a chronic false aneurysmal sac.In a series of 5 cases . . .