Acute disease of the aorta. Diagnosis by computed tomography and ultrasonography.

CT and ultrasonography, alone or in combination, have partially replaced aortography for the detection of abnormalities of the native and grafted abdominal aorta. In our medical center, ultrasonography is used to detect or confirm the diagnosis of aortic aneurysm and to determine its size, extent, and relationship to the renal arteries. We usually choose CT to assess suspected rupture of the native aorta and complications of the grafted aorta, such as occlusion, leakage, false aneurysm, or perigraft infection. Acute disease of the abdominal aorta can be detected or excluded using these relatively noninvasive imaging techniques.