Review Article

CT and MRI in the Evaluation of Thoracic Aortic Diseases

Figure 14

Intramural  hematoma—(a) noncontrast axial CT scan of a 67-year-old male with acute chest pain shows a high density collection (arrow) in the periphery of the descending aorta, which is internally displacing intimal calcification. (b) Axial postcontrast CT scan of the same patient shows the hypodense collection (arrow) in the periphery of the contrast opacified aorta. Although it appear hypodense, the mean attenuation value was 80 HU, which is higher than that for a thrombus. Also, the intimal calcification goes against a luminal thrombus. (c) Sagittal postcontrast CT scan shows the craniocaudal extent of the intramural hematoma (arrows).
797189.fig.0014a
(a)
797189.fig.0014b
(b)
797189.fig.0014c
(c)