Goarin J P, Le Bret F, Riou B, Jacquens Y, Viars P
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, CHU Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
Chest. 1993 Feb;103(2):618-20. doi: 10.1378/chest.103.2.618.
Traumatic aorta rupture survival depends on early diagnosis requiring aortography. Aortography is the "gold standard" method, but it is time-consuming and may be dangerous in trauma patients with multiple organ injuries. Transesophageal echocardiography is a noninvasive technology that can be performed at the bedside. We report two cases in which transesophageal echocardiography enabled us to make the early diagnosis of thoracic descending aorta rupture.
