The American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Organ Injury Scale 2018 update for computed tomography-based grading of renal trauma: a primer for the emergency radiologist.

The most widely used trauma injury grading system is the Organ Injury Scale (OIS) by the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST). The AAST OIS for renal trauma was revised in 2018 to reflect necessary updates based on decades of experience with computed tomography (CT)-based injury diagnosis and, specifically, to better incorporate vascular injuries, which were not comprehensively addressed in the original OIS. In this review article, we describe CT findings of the AAST OIS for the kidney according to the 2018 revision, with an emphasis on real-world application, and highlight important differences from the prior grading scheme. Routine use of this grading system allows for a standardized classification of the range of renal injuries to aid in management, adding value in the imaging care of trauma patients.

Skull Base-related Lesions at Routine Head CT from the Emergency Department: Pearls, Pitfalls, and Lessons Learned.

Routine non-contrast material-enhanced head CT is one of the most frequently ordered studies in the emergency department. Skull base-related pathologic entities, often depicted on the first or last images of a routine head CT study, can be easily overlooked in the emergency setting if not incorporated in the interpreting radiologist's search pattern, as the findings can be incompletely imaged. Delayed diagnosis, misdiagnosis, or lack of recognition of skull base pathologic entities can negatively impact patient care. This article reviews and illustrates the essential skull base anatomy and common blind spots that are important to radiologists who interpret nonenhanced head CT images in the acute setting. The imaging characteristics of important "do not miss" lesions are emphasized and categorized by their cause and location within the skull base, and the potential differential diagnoses are discussed. An interpretation checklist to improve diagnostic accuracy is provided. ©RSNA, 2019.

A review of penetrating brain trauma: epidemiology, pathophysiology, imaging assessment, complications, and treatment.

Gunshot injuries are the most common cause of penetrating brain injury (PBI) and carry a high morbidity and mortality. The incidence of PBI has increased over the last decade with an estimated 35,000 civilian deaths annually. Patients that survive to reach the hospital require rapid triage and imaging evaluation. CT findings in conjunction with the Glasgow Coma Scale are typically used to determine which patients are surgical candidates. Radiologists should be familiar with the various injury patterns and imaging findings which are poor prognostic indicators, notably brainstem, bilateral hemispheric, multilobar, or transventricular injuries. Post-traumatic complications, including intracranial infections, cerebrospinal fluid leaks, traumatic intracranial aneurysms, intraventricular hemorrhage, dural venous sinus thrombus, and bullet fragment migration, also have specific imaging features and serious treatment implications. In this article, we review the initial imaging evaluation of penetrating brain injury using computed tomography with and without angiography. We also describe the imaging features of various post-traumatic complications and their treatment implications. Finally, we discuss the clinical and imaging parameters that serve as important prognostic indicators and the surgical management.

Review of Multimodality Imaging of Renal Trauma.

Blunt trauma accounts for more than 95% of traumatic renal injury and results from shear forces from rapid acceleration or deceleration and/or collision against the spine or ribs. The use of multiphasic contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) has proven pivotal in the evaluation and management of traumatic kidney injury, and CT imaging features provide the basis for nonsurgical staging. This article describes the epidemiology and mechanisms of blunt and penetrating traumatic renal injury and reviews the range of findings from various imaging modalities, with a particular emphasis on contrast-enhanced CT.