title: Penetrating thoracic aortic injuries: rare but potentially salvageable sequelae of urban warfare.
abstract: Penetrating injuries of the thoracic aorta are rare and often fatal. Victims of such wounds rarely survive to reach the emergency department. Those patients who do arrive will display one of two symptom complexes--either continuing hemorrhage or seeming hemodynamic stability with a widened mediastinum on chest roentgenography. As the results of our study of six such patients show, at least 50% of those who arrive with any signs of life may be salvaged by aggressive surgical management.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, La 70112.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Timberlake
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Kerstein
authors.forename: N E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: McSwain
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic; D001019:Aortic Rupture / Q000601:surgery*; D004630:Emergencies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014505:Urban Population; D014754:Violence; D014950:Wounds, Penetrating / Q000601:surgery*