'The broken halo sign': a fractured calcified ring as an unusual sign of traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta.
Two elderly patients, involved in separate motor vehicle accidents, sustained blunt chest injury resulting in rupture of their thoracic aortas. The initial chest radiographs showed the presence of a calcified ring fractured in two places with lateral displacement of a calcified fragment by haematoma. This 'broken halo sign' is a radiographic sign not previously well described in the literature. The presence of a disrupted aortic ring in the elderly patient, associated with the appropriate mechanism of injury, should alert the clinician to the potential diagnosis of traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta (TRTA).
Perchinsky
M J
MJ
Department of Trauma Services, Emanuel Hospital & Health Center, Portland, Oregon.
Long
W B
WB
Urman
S
S
Borzotta
A
A
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries*; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001019:Aortic Rupture / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001027:Aortography; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male