CT findings of bronchial transection

A case of right bronchial rupture demonstrated by computed tomography (CT) is reported, Chest radiographs of a 55-year-old man who sustained blunt chest trauma showed bilateral pneumomediastinum, hydropneumothorax, and subcutaneous emphysema with fracture of the left 3rd and 4th ribs, CT showed wall defect over the right main bronchus with the air in airway contiguous to that in the mediastinum, Bronchoscopy and thoracostomy confirmed the CT findings and the patient was treated by bronchorrhaphy with end-to-end anastomosis. The airway should be meticulously evaluated in cases of mediastinal and subcutaneous emphysema, especially after trauma. Copyright (C) 1997 by W.B. Saunders Company.