We report a patient with type B aortic dissection which ruptured into the right hemithorax to call attention to this infrequent presentation and to accentuate the value of computed tomography angiography (CTA) with multiplanar reformatting in localizing the dissection and demonstrating the rupture site. CTA in combination with 2- and 3-dimensional reformatting is crucial for surgical planning because of the low specificity of transesophageal echocardiography in the ascending aorta.

Keywords: ruptured aortic dissection • computed tomography • hemothorax