Review Article Multidetector Computer Tomography: Evaluation of Blunt Chest Trauma in Adults

Copyright © 2014 João Palas et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Imaging plays an essential part of chest trauma care. By definition, the employed imaging technique in the emergency setting should reach the correct diagnosis as fast as possible. In severe chest blunt trauma, multidetector computer tomography (MDCT) has become part of the initial workup, mainly due to its high sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy of the technique for the detection and characterization of thoracic injuries and also due to its wide availability in tertiary care centers.The aim of this paper is to review and illustrate a spectrum of characteristicMDCTfindings of blunt traumatic injuries of the chest including the lungs, mediastinum, pleural space, and chest wall. 1