Vascular & interventional radiology Traumatic pseudo-aneurysm and concurrent dissection of the aortic arch treated with endovascular stenting

The pseudo-aneurysms of thoracic aorta are rare and a life-threatening complication of aortic
surgery and blunt chest trauma. This article demonstrates a case report of a traumatic aortic
arch dissection and formation of a false aneurysm after blunt chest trauma in Iran. A 23-year-old
man was referred complaining of chest pain and exertional cough. He had a history of chest and
abdominal trauma five months ago after a car accident, resulting in acceleration-deceleration
injury. The trauma resulted in an extensive injury on the left side of the chest and abdomen
associated with multiple rib fractures, hemopneumothorax and splenic rupture. Splenectomy
and left chest tube drainage was performed. The patient was admitted for 15 days. Finally, he
recovered to normal and was discharged in satisfactory condition. However, his chest pain and
cough restarted and its severity gradually increased. In chest x-ray, a left upper mediastinal mass
was detected, which was later confirmed by 64 multi-slice chest CT scan as a false aortic arch
aneurysm and aortic dissection. It seems endovascular stent-graft technique for the treatment of
thoracic aorta aneurysm may present a good treatment choice with a low risk and less invasive
approach