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Diaphragmatic injuries: why do we struggle to detect them?

  • EMERGENCY RADIOLOGY
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Abstract

Diaphragmatic injury is an uncommon traumatic condition. It can be easily missed due to a lack of awareness by both clinicians and radiologists. A high index of suspicion is required for the establishment of an early diagnosis and prevention of life-threatening complications. Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) is the modality of choice for the detection of diaphragmatic injury. In this review article, we illustrate the MDCT appearance of blunt and penetrating diaphragmatic injuries and emphasize the role of the emergency radiologist in detecting these entities.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Emergency/Trauma Radiology, Department of Radiology, Hamilton General Hospital, McMaster University, 237 Barton Str. E, Hamilton, ON, L8L 2X2, Canada

    Michael N. Patlas & Vincent A. Leung

  2. Department of Emergency Radiology, Cardarelli Hospital, Naples, Italy

    Luigia Romano, Nicola Gagliardi & Gianluca Ponticiello

  3. Department of Radiology, Pineta Grande Medical Center, Castel Volturno, Italy

    Mariano Scaglione

Authors
  1. Michael N. Patlas
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  2. Vincent A. Leung
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  3. Luigia Romano
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  4. Nicola Gagliardi
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  5. Gianluca Ponticiello
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  6. Mariano Scaglione
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Correspondence to Michael N. Patlas.

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Patlas, M.N., Leung, V.A., Romano, L. et al. Diaphragmatic injuries: why do we struggle to detect them?. Radiol med 120, 12–20 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-014-0453-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-014-0453-5

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