Patients with thoracic aortic diseases may be completely asymptomatic (as in thoracic aortic aneurysms) or present acutely with severe chest pain (as in acute aortic dissections). Thoracic aortic disease is often occult until a life-threatening complication occurs or the disease is discovered incidentally on imaging. Multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) can be used to diagnose various acute and chronic abnormalities of the aorta, including aortic aneurysms, aortic dissection, intramural hematoma, penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer, traumatic aortic transection, and congenital malformations. This article reviews the MDCT appearance of various thoracic aortic diseases.
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