[Diagnosis of aortic intramural hematoma by electron beam CT].
OBJECTIVE
To assess the value of electron beam CT (EBCT) in the diagnosis of aortic intramural hematoma (AIH).


METHODS
Twenty-five patients who complained of acute chest and back pain were scanned with an EBCT scanner (Imatron C-150) using contrast-enhanced continuous volume scanning (CVS) for establish the diagnosis of AIH.


RESULTS
Seven patients were diagnosed as having Stanford type A, and the others as type B AIH. The direct features of AIH in EBCT included crescent or circular thickening (>5 mm) of the aortic wall without signs of lumen formation resulting from intimal rupture. The indirect features included calcification ingression (7 cases), penetrating ulcer (12 cases), atherosclerosis (18 cases) and leakages (5 cases). The complicating features included pericardial effusion (5 cases), pleural effusion (14 cases), involvement of the large branches (5 cases), aortic dissection (3 cases) and aneurysms (4 cases).


CONCLUSIONS
EBCT can provide important information for the diagnosis and treatment of AIH, and can be useful for follow-up observation of the patients.
DU
Wei-qing
WQ
Diagnostic Imaging Center, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China. dwqing@fmmu.edu.cn
Zhang
Xue-lin
XL
Zheng
Min-wen
MW
Wei
Meng-qi
MQ
Xu
Jun-qing
JQ
Xu
Jian
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006406:Hematoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed