Delayed Traumatic Rupture of Aorta

Those engaged in the treatment of road traffic accidents are increasingly aware of the effects of blunt force injury to the chest, which may result in a variety of intrathoracic damage to the heart and great vessels. Traumatic aortic rupture is a rare but well-recognized entity, all too often diagnosed at necropsy. Teare (1951) showed it to be the cause of death in eight of 28 victims of an aircraft disaster, the result of acute flexion of the body over a safety belt. Strassmann (1947) recorded 72 cases from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, New York City; and Parmley, Mattingly, Manion, and Jahnke (1958) 171 cases out of 275 in which aortic damage was combined with cardiac injury. Only 20 % survived more than 30 minutes following injury. Traumatic aneurysm is a much rarer injury, and until the last decade cases had only been reported