Repair of a penetrating aortic arch injury using deep hypothermic circulatory arrest and retrograde cerebral perfusion.

The traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta is a severe and life-threatening entity. The incidence of penetrating trauma to the aortic arch is not known, because most patients die of haemorrhage even before they receive adequate treatment. Clinical signs of such injuries include external or internal haemorrhage, bruit, distal pulse deficit, neurological deficit and shock. We present a 42-year old female with a penetrating aortic arch injury successfully repaired using deep hypothermic circulatory arrest and retrograde cerebral perfusion.