Symptoms
The condition is difficult to detect and may go unnoticed, since most patients have no symptoms. However, a minority of patients may be hoarse, find it difficult to breathe or speak, or have shortness of breath, or have chest or upper back pain. Diagnosis is further complicated by the fact that many patients with the injury experienced multiple other serious injuries as well, so the attention of hospital staff may be distracted from the possibility of aortic rupture.
The preferred method of diagnosis is CT Angiogram. Though not completely reliable, chest X-rays are initially used to diagnose this condition when the patient is unstable and cannot be sent to the CT bay.
Read more about this topic: Traumatic Aortic Rupture
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