CT findings in ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms

In nine patients with ruptured aneurysms of the abdominal aorta and in one patient with a ruptured aneurysm of a common iliac artery, who also had an abdominal aortic aneurysm, CT was performed. Three of the nine patients were also examined by sonography. CT proved to be the method of choice in the diagnosis of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms. The most important CT signs are: demonstration of an aortic aneurysm; haematoma, usually unilateral and retroperitoneal; ventral or ventro-lateral displacement of a kidney; enlargement of the psoas, which may be indistinguishable from the haematoma, possibly with direct penetration of the psoas fascia; indistinct margin of the aortic wall at the rupture site. (orig.)