ABSTRACT
Penetrating cardiac trauma constitutes a serious threat for life. Less than the third part of all patients who suffer it arrives at the hospital alive, and half of them die. Most of the penetrating foreign bodies in the heart are metallic, and are frequently caused by firearms and rarely by self-injury. The accidental penetration is uncommon but inadvertent penetration is extremely rare. We present the case of a patient who suffered a closed-chest trauma and did not notice the penetration of a foreign body (copper wire fragment) in the heart. It remained lodged in the left ventricle for more than 3 months. This it is the only case reported in the literature where a strange body: a) crosses the free wall of the right ventricle, the right ventricular cavity, interventricular septum, and the mitral valve apparatus; b) occupies almost all the anteroposterior diameter of the heart, and c) did not produce acute or chronic bleeding.
Subject(s)
Aged , Humans , Male , Foreign Bodies , Heart Ventricles/injuries , Wounds, Penetrating , Chronic DiseaseABSTRACT
Atrial aneurysms are rare entities that can be congenital or acquired. Those involving the free wall or atrial appendage are even rarer. There are only 49 cases reported in the literature involving the left atrium and 8 in the right atrium until 2002. The most common clinical presentation is the appearance of recurring or incessant atrial arrhythmias. In addition, systemic embolization may occur as an imminent life-threatening event. We present the case of a female teenager who suffered from an embolic stroke during an atrial fibrillation. She had a giant aneurysm of the left atrial appendage that was successfully removed. Images from computed tomography, and of the aneurysm during the surgical intervention are shown.