The ribs are frequently affected by blunt or penetrating injury to the thorax. In the emergency department setting, it is vital for the interpreting radiologist to not only identify the presence of rib injuries but also alert the clinician about organ-specific injury, specific traumatic patterns, and acute rib trauma complications that require emergent attention. Rib injuries can be separated into specific morphologic fracture patterns that include stress, buckle, nondisplaced, displaced, segmental, and pathologic fractures. Specific attention is also required for flail chest and for fractures due to pediatric nonaccidental trauma. Rib fractures are associated with significant morbidity and mortality, both of which increase as the number of fractured ribs increases. Key complications associated with rib fracture include pain, hemothorax, pneumothorax, extrapleural hematoma, pulmonary contusion, pulmonary laceration, acute vascular injury, and abdominal solid-organ injury. Congenital anomalies, including supernumerary or accessory ribs, vestigial anterior ribs, bifid ribs, and synostoses, are common and should not be confused with traumatic pathologic conditions. Nontraumatic mimics of traumatic rib injury, with or without fracture, include metastatic disease, primary osseous neoplasms (osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, Langerhans cell histiocytosis, and osteochondroma), fibrous dysplasia, and Paget disease. Principles of management include supportive and procedural methods of alleviating pain, treating complications, and stabilizing posttraumatic deformity. By recognizing and accurately reporting the imaging findings, the radiologist will add value to the care of patients with thoracic trauma. Online supplemental material is available for this article. RSNA, 2017.

A variety of structural developmental anomalies affect the vertebral column. Malformed vertebrae can arise secondary to errors of vertebral formation, fusion and/or segmentation and developmental variation. Malformations can be simple with little or no clinical consequence, or complex with serious structural and neurologic implications. These anomalies can occasionally mimic acute trauma (bipartite atlas versus Jefferson fracture, butterfly vertebra versus burst fracture), or predispose the affected individual to myelopathy. Accurate imaging interpretation of vertebral malformations requires knowledge of ageappropriate normal, variant and abnormal vertebral morphology and the clinical implications of each entity. This knowledge will improve diagnostic confidence in acute situations and confounding clinical scenarios.This review article seeks to familiarize the reader with the embryology, normal and variant anatomy of the vertebral column and the imaging appearance and clinical impact of the spectrum of vertebral malformations arising as a consequence of disordered embryological development.Teaching points • Some vertebral malformations predispose the affected individual to trauma or myelopathy. • On imaging, malformed vertebrae can be indistinguishable from acute trauma. • Abnormalities in spinal cord development may be associated and must be searched for. • Accurate interpretation requires knowledge of normal, variant and abnormal vertebral morphology.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13244-018-0598-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Injuries to the pediatric distal forearm and wrist have myriad manifestations. Growth plate injuries can occur in the skeletally immature child. An unfused growth plate is less robust than ligamentous complexes and therefore is more easily injured. The Salter-Harris fracture classification system is used to grade physeal injuries based on their imaging appearance. This grading has prognostic significance: higher grades imply an increased likelihood of eventual growth disturbance. A disrupted distal radioulnar joint characterizes Galeazzi-type injuries at all ages; however, before skeletal maturity is attained, a disrupted radioulnar joint can manifest as a distal ulnar physeal separation with associated epiphysiolysis of the distal ulna, termed a Galeazzi-equivalent fracture. Bone contusions can be diagnosed using fluid-sensitive fat-suppressed magnetic resonance imaging, and their detection can alter the prognosis. The unique cartilaginous cushion of the developing bony carpus imparts resilience to fracture and dislocation until carpal maturity is reached. Chronic compressive forces to the wrist in a skeletally immature gymnast can result in a distinct pattern of bone and soft-tissue injury referred to as gymnast wrist. If the distal radial physis fuses prematurely, ulnar growth will outpace radial growth, leading to positive ulnar variance and consequent chronic wrist pain from ulnar impaction.

Congenital aberrant hepatic vascular communications result from intrahepatic or extrahepatic errors in vascular development or involution during the transition from fetal to newborn hepatic circulation. These hepatic vascular shunts can be fortuitously discovered and asymptomatic, or can cause symptoms of varying severity, often presenting diagnostic dilemmas. Some hepatic vascular shunts resolve spontaneously while others require interventional radiologic or surgical closure. Affected patients are often first studied with real-time and Doppler ultrasound, so radiologists should familiarize themselves with the expected ultrasound findings of these vascular shunts for effective diagnosis, triage and management. In this review, the authors focus on ultrasound and Doppler findings of hepatic vascular shunts with underlying embryology, clinical features and management strategies. Broadly, these aberrant hepatic vascular communications include portosystemic venous shunts (which can be intra- or extrahepatic and include persistent patent ductus venosus), arterioportal, arteriovenous or mixed shunts.