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A 37-year-old man was involved in a motor vehicle collision. On examination in the emergency department, the patient was hemodynamically stable but had a steering-wheel imprint on the anterior chest wall. A computed tomographic scan of the chest showed a ruptured thoracic aorta just distal to the ligamentum arteriosum (Panel A, cross-sectional view, arrow; Panel B, sagittal view, arrow). The patient underwent emergency repair of his injury and replacement of the injured aorta with a prosthetic graft. He recovered uneventfully and was discharged eight days after surgery.
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