The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Apr 1979
Case ReportsAcute hypertension: its significance in traumatic aortic rupture.
Traumatic aortic rupture is a common occurrence associated with 16 percent of deaths from automobile accidents. Through a review of current literature and two recent cases from The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, we have attempted to elucidate a common physical finding, acute hypertension associated with blunt chest trauma, and prove its significance as a diagnostic clue to traumatic rupture of the aorta. New laboratory findings of an aortic sympathetic reflex stimulated by stretching the aortic wall in the area of the isthmus provides a physiological explanation for the cause of hypertension after aortic trauma.