CT imaging of complications of aortic intramural hematoma: a pictorial essay
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Cardiovascular Imaging - Pictorial Essay 2016
P: 342-347
November 2018

CT imaging of complications of aortic intramural hematoma: a pictorial essay

Diagn Interv Radiol 2018;24(6):342-347
1. From the Universidad de Los Andes School of Medicine Santiago, Chile
2. Department of Radiology University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Colorado, USA
3. Department of Radiology Clinica Santa Maria, Santiago, Chile
No information available.
No information available
Received Date: 01.02.2018
Accepted Date: 15.05.2018
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ABSTRACT

Aortic intramural hematoma (IMH) is a pathologic process with a clinical presentation identical to aortic dissection and associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Radiologists must be familiar with the imaging appearances of IMH as computed tomography (CT) plays a critical role in both diagnosis and patient management. The course of IMH is variable and the process may regress, remain stable, or progress in extent, and therefore imaging findings associated with a negative prognosis must be recognized and included in the formal radiology report. Potentially life-threatening complications and findings associated with IMH include hemopericardium and cardiac tamponade, coexisting aortic dissection, ulcer-like projection, intramural blood pool, and extension of hematoma along the pulmonary or coronary arteries, which are identifiable with aortic protocol CT. The purpose of this pictorial review is to provide the reader with an image-based review of the diagnostic criteria, related complications, and associated critical prognostic features in patients presenting with aortic IMH.