Utility Of Median Sternotomy In Penetrating Chest Trauma

Penetrating injuries to the “cardiac box“ are amongst the most lethal traumatic injuries with an estimated 6% of the patients arriving to the hospital 1 alive . We report the benign presentation of a 79 year-old female with penetrating injury to the cardiac box. Post-operative course was unremarkable. In this report, we discuss the surgical implications of penetrating injury to the cardiac box

Computed tomography of the thorax with 3D reconstruction in penetrating chest injury

Penetrating chest wounds is less common but more deadly then blunt trauma. Majority of penetrating chest trauma can be managed conservatively with observation and simple thoracotomy. This case report highlights a bizarre occupational hazard causing a penetrating chest injury and the option of non-invasive management with the aid of computed tomography with 3D reconstruction.

Delayed Diagnosis of Traumatic Ventricular Septal Defect in Penetrating Chest Injury: Small Evidence on Echocardiography Makes Big Difference

Cardiac trauma from penetrating chest injury is a life-threatening condition. It was reported that < 10% of patients arrives at the emergency department alive. Penetrating chest injury can cause serious damage in more than 1 cardiac structure, including myocardial lacerations, ventricular septal defect (VSD), fistula between aorta and right cardiac chamber and valves. The presence of pericardial effusion (even a small amount) on the initial echocardiography might be the only clue to serious cardiac damage in the absence of definite evidence of anatomical defect in heart. We here present a case, in which clear diagnosis of VSD and pseudoaneurysmal formation was delayed a few days after penetrating chest injury due to the lack of anatomical evidence of damage.

A Case of Isolated Ventricular Septal Rupture Following Non-penetrating Chest Trauma

Traumatic ventricular septal rupture following traffic accident is presummed to occur by external compression of the heart during late diastole or isovolumetric systole when the ventricular chambers are full and the valves are closed. Isolated ventricular septal rupture following non-penetrating chest trauma is known to be extremely rare. We report a 29-year-old man with suddenly developed ventricular septal rupture follwing nonpenetrating chest trauma by traffic accident, which he was died suddenly due to cardiac arrest in front of an operation.