Imaging in acute thoracic trauma.
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Acute Disease↗
Biomedical subjects
S E Mirvis
Publications and source records attributed to S E Mirvis.
Magnetic resonance imaging in traumatic diaphragmatic rupture: case reports.
Acute traumatic diaphragmatic rupture is usually diagnosed by plain chest x-ray studies or at laparotomy. On occasion, ancillary diagnostic procedures such as computed tomography (CT) and fluoroscopy are necessary for diagnosis. Suspected acute traumatic diaphragmatic rupture was definitively diagnosed by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in two patients. In another three patients, MR imaging was used to rule out diaphragmatic rupture. Magnetic resonance imaging may be the ancillary diagnostic procedure of choice following equivocal chest radiographs.
Adult↗
Myelographic and enhanced computed tomographic appearance of acute traumatic spinal cord avulsion.
The neuroradiological findings that revealed spinal cord transection/laceration in 6 patients with acute, blunt spinal trauma are described. Four patients suffered cervical spine injuries, and two had thoracic injuries. Initially, all patients had complete neurological deficit at the level of injury. The deficit improved in only 1 patient. On the basis of clinical history and spinal radiographs, spinal hyperflexion with distraction was the predominant mechanism of injury in our patients. Computed tomography with intrathecal contrast was performed on all patients and was always diagnostic. Visualization of intrathecal contrast material accumulating within the cord or the absence of cord shadow within the contrast column established the diagnosis in all cases. A dural tear was noted in 3 patients. Thoracic myelography was performed in 2 patients and, in both, demonstrated contrast pooling within the spinal cord at the level of the laceration. Magnetic resonance imaging was obtained in 1 patient and revealed an irregular, low-signal-intensity, intramedullary region extending to the cord surface on T1-weighted axial images. The myelographic and enhanced computed tomographic appearances of acute, traumatic spinal cord avulsion/laceration, which have been infrequently reported in the literature, are described.
Acute Disease↗
Acute adrenal injury after blunt abdominal trauma: CT findings.
During a 32-month period, adrenal injuries were diagnosed in 20 (2%) of 1120 patients who had abdominal CT for assessment of blunt force trauma. Injuries were unilateral in 17 patients (12 right-sided and five left-sided) and bilateral in three (23 total adrenal injuries) and were accompanied by concurrent ipsilateral thoracic or abdominal injuries in all but one patient. Nineteen (83%) of the adrenal injuries appeared as discrete round to oval hematomas expanding the adrenal gland, two (9%) appeared as diffuse irregular hemorrhage obliterating the gland, and two (9%) appeared as uniform swelling of the adrenal gland. Associated CT findings included "stranding" of the periadrenal fat caused by blood in 14 cases (61%) and posterior pararenal hemorrhage mimicking a thickened diaphragmatic crus in nine cases (39%). In general, these injuries had no significant medical sequelae, but acute adrenal insufficiency developed in one patient with bilateral lesions; in another patient with an adrenal hematoma compressing the inferior vena cava, caval thrombosis developed. The potential for delayed bleeding or infection within the hemorrhagic gland exists, but these did not occur in any of our patients. Our experience indicates that adrenal injury resulting from blunt trauma is more common than suggested by previous reports and emphasizes the importance of careful inspection of the adrenal glands in patients in whom lower thoracic or upper abdominal injuries are detected by CT.
Abdominal Injuries↗
Rupture of the bowel after blunt abdominal trauma: diagnosis with CT.
OBJECTIVE: The accuracy of CT in the detection of injuries of the solid viscera after blunt trauma is well established, but the value of CT in diagnosing bowel rupture resulting from blunt trauma is controversial. This study was conducted to determine the sensitivity of CT in diagnosing posttraumatic bowel rupture. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: During a 51-month period, 17 preoperative CT scans were obtained in 16 patients who subsequently had bowel ruptures verified surgically. Both preoperative (prospective) and retrospective CT findings were analyzed in these patients. Retrospective interpretation was made by consensus of two radiologists. RESULTS: Surgically confirmed bowel ruptures occurred in the duodenum (five), ileum (four), jejunum (four), colon (four), and stomach (two). CT findings considered diagnostic of bowel perforation were detected prospectively on 10 (59%) of 17 scans; these included pneumoperitoneum without prior peritoneal lavage (six), mesenteric, intramural, or retroperitoneal free air (six), or direct visualization of discontinuity of the bowel wall or extravasation of luminal contents (four). Prospective CT findings considered suggestive of bowel rupture were present on five (29%) of the 17 scans; these included intraperitoneal fluid of unknown source (three), thickened (> 4-5 mm) bowel wall (two), gross anterior pararenal fluid without a recognized source (one), and a mesenteric-bowel wall hematoma (one). On two of 17 scans, findings were seen in retrospect only; these included free intraperitoneal blood without a source (findings on a second CT scan were diagnostic) and pneumoperitoneum. CT findings diagnostic or suggestive of bowel injury were detected prospectively on 15 (88%) of 17 scans and were noted in all retrospectively. CONCLUSION: CT is sensitive for the diagnosis of bowel rupture resulting from blunt trauma, but careful inspection and technique are required to detect often subtle findings.
Abdominal Injuries↗
Imaging of thoracic trauma.
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Diagnostic Imaging↗
Orbital roof "blow-in" fractures.
Seven patients with significant frontal trauma involving the supraorbital region associated with orbital roof "blow-in" fractures were admitted to the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) at the University of Maryland Medical System over a 16-month period. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) with three-dimensional reconstructions demonstrated a downward displacement of the orbital roof in the absence of any orbital rim discontinuity. Associated findings included contussive and hemorrhagic injury to the ipsilateral frontal and parietal lobes, proptosis, ptosis, chemosis, orbital hematoma, and optic nerve contusion. The only long-term ocular pathology in this group of patients was mild to severe optic atrophy. It is recommended that all patients with frontal bone trauma have thin-cut computed tomographic evaluation of the orbit.
Accidents, Traffic↗
Acute traumatic midbrain hemorrhage: experimental and clinical observations with CT.
Traumatic brain stem hemorrhage (TBH) after blunt head impact is an uncommon injury and has historically been associated with high mortality. Retrospective clinical review identified 64 patients with TBH admitted during a 5-year period. Complete imaging and clinical records for 45 of these patients demonstrated that TBH could be categorized into three groups. The most frequent site of hemorrhage, in 31 (69%) of 45 patients (group 1), was the midline rostral anterior brain stem, posterior to the interpeduncular cistern, and this injury was associated with a 71% survival rate. This pattern was also associated with a predominantly anterior site of head and/or face impact. Eight (18%) patients (group 2) had miscellaneous foci of acute brain stem hemorrhage with seven (88%) surviving. Six (13%) patients (group 3) had brain stem hemorrhage associated with transtentorial herniation and brain stem compression, with 100% mortality. Experimental findings in a canine model and clinical results indicate that the anterior rostral midbrain is a common site of TBH and appears to arise from sudden craniocaudal displacement of the brain at impact. Survival is unexpected high with this location of traumatic midbrain hemorrhage.
Acute Disease↗
Three-dimensional computerized tomography in the evaluation of laryngeal injury.
A comparison of diagnostic information obtained from the physical examination, conventional two-dimensional axial computerized tomography scanning (2-D CT), and three-dimensional display computerized tomography (3-D CT) was performed in five patients sustaining laryngeal trauma. Four patients had laryngeal fractures and one patient had an incompletely ossified thyroid cartilage (normal variant) simulating a fracture by 2-D CT. Three-dimensional display computerized tomography was found superior to conventional 2-D CT in assessing the presence and nature of the laryngeal injuries while correctly identifying the anatomic variant.
Adult↗
Diaphragmatic rupture due to blunt trauma: sensitivity of plain chest radiographs.
Preoperative diagnosis of diaphragmatic rupture caused by blunt injury is often difficult because of serious concurrent injuries, a lack of specific clinical signs, and simultaneous lung disease that may mask or mimic the diagnosis radiologically. Previous reports have suggested that a preoperative diagnosis is established on the basis of chest radiographs in only one third of patients. In order to assess the value of chest radiographs and other imaging techniques in diagnosing traumatic rupture of the diaphragm, we retrospectively reviewed all preoperative diagnostic imaging performed in 50 patients with surgically proved hemidiaphragmatic rupture due to blunt trauma. Chest radiographs were diagnostic in 20 (46%) of 44 patients with left-sided rupture and were considered suspicious enough to warrant further diagnostic studies in an additional eight patients (18%). Five patients with initially normal findings on chest radiographs had diagnostic findings on delayed chest radiographs. Chest radiographs were strongly suggestive in only one (17%) of six patients with right-sided hemidiaphragmatic rupture. CT was diagnostic for diaphragmatic rupture in only one (14%) of seven instances in which it was performed. MR was diagnostic in both patients in whom it was performed. Our experience indicates that chest radiographs obtained at admission and repeated soon after are more valuable in suggesting the diagnosis of traumatic rupture of the diaphragm than previously reported, particularly in the more frequent, left-sided injuries. This increased sensitivity may be due to a greater level of suspicion maintained in a trauma referral center in which this injury is not uncommon.
Adolescent↗
Value of CT in determining the need for angiography when findings of mediastinal hemorrhage on chest radiographs are equivocal.
The role of CT in determining the need for angiography in patients with possible thoracic vascular injury resulting from blunt trauma is controversial. During a 24-month period, we prospectively evaluated the results of CT to screen 90 patients with a history of decelerating thoracic trauma for evidence of mediastinal hemorrhage or great vessel abnormality. All patients either had equivocally abnormal mediastinal contours on chest radiographs (64%) or had technically suboptimal chest radiographs owing to body habitus or restriction to the supine projection (36%). Patients with unequivocal signs of mediastinal hemorrhage on chest radiographs underwent immediate arteriography without prior CT. Thoracic CT was interpreted as normal in 63 (77%) patients and no further imaging was performed. Five patients had technically suboptimal CT studies, and CT scans were interpreted as equivocal in six. These 11 patients had normal arteriograms. Sixteen CT scans (18%) demonstrated evidence of mediastinal hemorrhage and/or great vessel contour abnormality. Four (27%) of 15 patients who underwent arteriography had injury to the great vessels. One patient refused to undergo angiography. In 11 patients with CT evidence of mediastinal hemorrhage, major vascular injury was not seen on arteriography. These results suggest a valuable role for CT in determining the need for arteriography to detect potential great vessel injury in patients with blunt decelerating thoracic trauma and equivocally abnormal mediastinal contours on chest radiographs.
Adult↗
Le Fort fractures without mobility.
The Le Fort fracture without maxillary mobility constitutes 9 percent of maxillary fractures observed over a 3-year period. A high Le Fort (level II or III) injury exists as a one- or two-piece incomplete fracture. The degree of fracture is insufficient to permit mobility of the maxillary alveolus. Frequently, an obvious unilateral zygomatic fracture is present. Physical findings consist of bilateral eyelid ecchymosis and malocclusion. The occlusal disturbance may consist of either crossbite, open bite, maxillary rotation, or lack of proper dental intercuspation. On CT scan, fractures are best demonstrated in the posterior and medial maxillary walls at the Le Fort I level; they are most obvious unilaterally with contralateral fractures that may be subtle. Bilateral maxillary sinus fluid is consistently present on CT. Treatment usually consists of observation and traction elastics but may require mobilization of the fragments followed by open reduction and rigid fixation.
Humans↗
Posttraumatic cerebral infarction diagnosed by CT: prevalence, origin, and outcome.
Posttraumatic cerebral infarction is a recognized complication of craniocerebral trauma, but its frequency, cause, and influence on mortality are not well defined. To ascertain this information, all cranial CT studies demonstrating posttraumatic cerebral infarction and performed during a 40-month period at our trauma center were reviewed. Posttraumatic cerebral infarction was diagnosed by CT within 24 hr of admission (10 patients) and up to 14 days after admission (mean, 3 days) in 25 (1.9%) of 1332 patients who required cranial CT for trauma during the period. Infarcts, in well-defined arterial distributions, were diagnosed either uni- or bilaterally in the posterior cerebral (17), proximal and/or distal anterior cerebral (11), middle cerebral (11), lenticulostriate/thalamoperforating (nine), anterior choroidal (three), and/or vertebrobasilar (two) territories in 23 patients. Two other patients displayed atypical infarction patterns with sharply marginated cortical and subcortical low densities crossing typical vascular territories. CT findings suggested direct vascular compression due to mass effects from edema, contusion, and intra- or extraaxial hematoma as the cause of infarction in 24 patients; there was postmortem verification in five. In one patient, a skull-base fracture crossing the precavernous carotid canal led to occlusion of the internal carotid artery and ipsilateral cerebral infarction. Mortality in craniocerebral trauma with complicating posttraumatic cerebral infarction, 68% in this series, did not differ significantly from that in craniocerebral trauma patients without posttraumatic cerebral infarction when matched for admission Glasgow Coma Score results. Thus, aggressive management should be considered even in the presence of posttraumatic cerebral infarction.
Adult↗
Intraoperative sonography of cervical spinal cord injury: results in 30 patients.
Intraoperative spinal sonography (IOSS) with a 7.5-MHz sector transducer was performed in 30 patients with cervical spine injury associated with neurologic deficits. A laminectomy (25 patients) or anterior corpectomy (five patients) during spinal surgery provided the IOSS imaging window. The surgery was performed for either spinal decompression or fixation as part of the initial care of these patients and occurred 1 to 39 days (mean, 12.4 days) after injury. Parenchymal spinal cord lesions at the level of cervical fracture or stenosis that were compatible with the initial neurologic deficits were detected by IOSS in 28 (96.5%) of 29 patients with technically adequate studies. Lesions appeared as foci of increased echogenicity and were sorted into five injury grades (0 through IV). The IOSS injury grade in each patient was determined by the maximal diameter of regions of increased echogenicity and/or cyst formation in either the sagittal or transverse image plane. The extent of initial neurologic injury and its recovery was assessed by using the ASIA motor score (0 to 100 unit scale) at admission and during follow-up. The IOSS injury grade was correlated with the initial ASIA motor score (p less than 0.009, Spearman's Rank Order Test), indicating that the IOSS echogenicity is related to the extent of initial clinical motor deficit. Regression analysis disclosed that both the IOSS injury grade and the initial ASIA score were correlated with the follow-up ASIA score (p less than 0.05 and p less than 0.001, respectively). However, the the addition of IOSS injury grade to the initial ASIA motor score did not improve the predictive ability of the follow-up ASIA motor score. This was interpreted as indicating that the IOSS injury grade and initial ASIA motor score contain similar information about the extent of the traumatic spinal cord injury. IOSS was compared with concurrently performed cervical spine MR images in 12 patients. IOSS confirmed parenchymal lesions demonstrated by MR (five patients), revealed cord lesions not detected by suboptimal MR studies (three patients), and better characterized lesions with early cyst formation (two patients). IOSS did not detect possibly significant herniated intervertebral disks in two patients because of its limited field of view.
Adolescent↗
The laterally tilted dens: a sign of subtle odontoid fracture on plain radiography.
Type III (low) odontoid fractures may be subtle on initial plain film radiographic examination. We describe a sign on the routine open-mouth view, the laterally tilted dens, which has not been previously stressed in the radiologic literature, and is an important diagnostic sign of type III fractures of the odontoid process of the axis. In a series of 82 nontraumatized patients, no odontoid angle of less than 87 degrees (3 degrees from perpendicular) was observed. In a series of type III odontoid fractures, tilting of the dens in excess of 5 degrees was present in eight (67%) of 12 cases. This may be the only readily apparent finding on the initial cervical spine series. Of eight type III odontoid fractures in which an abnormal odontoid angle was identified, it was the only definite abnormality that could be recognized prospectively in two cases (25%) and that supported very subtle findings in two other cases (25%).
Adolescent↗
Diagnostic imaging of the urinary system following blunt trauma.
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Humans↗
Applications of magnetic resonance imaging and three-dimensional computed tomography in emergency medicine.
Numerous technical advances have occurred in diagnostic imaging during the past decade, including digital subtraction angiography, ultrafast computed tomography (CT) scanning, positron emission tomography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and availability of three-dimensional graphic representation of anatomy acquired through cross-sectional imaging methods. The potential applications of MRI and three-dimensional display CT scanning in the diagnosis of acute trauma are the focuses of this review.
Emergency Medicine↗
Acute acalculous cholecystitis in critically injured patients. Preoperative diagnostic imaging.
The potential lethality and predisposing factors of acute acalculous cholecystitis (AAC) are well established; however, preoperative diagnosis remains a challenge. This update of a previous report of 30 cases of AAC at a Level I trauma center describes 14 multiply injured patients who developed AAC and underwent cholecystectomy. All 14 patients had acutely inflamed gallbladders; 6 (42.8%) had areas of necrosis or gangrene. The mortality rate was 7% (1 patient). While the percentage of patients receiving prolonged intensive care (100%), narcotic analgesics (100%), and TPN (93%) correlates with the experience cited previously, the percentage undergoing preoperative diagnostic imaging is unusually high, reflecting a heightened suspicion for AAC. Computed tomographic or sonographic evidence of gallbladder wall thickness greater than or equal to 4 mm, pericholecystic fluid or subserosal edema without ascites, intramural gas, or a sloughed mucosal membrane was considered diagnostic criteria for AAC. We conclude that preoperative computed tomogram or ultrasound imaging leads to earlier recognition of this life-threatening problem.
Acute Disease↗