Blunt Traumatic Cardiac Rupture Research Articles

Blunt Traumatic Cardiac Rupture: Single-Institution Experiences over 14 Years

BackgroundBlunt traumatic cardiac rupture is rare. However, such cardiac ruptures carry a high mortality rate. This study reviews our experience treating blunt traumatic cardiac rupture.MethodsThis retrospective study included 21 patients who experienced blunt traumatic cardiac rupture from 1999 to 2015. Every patient underwent surgery. Several variables were compared between survivors and fatalities.ResultsSixteen of the 21 patients survived, and 5 (24%) died. No instances of intraoperative mortality occurred. The most common cause of injury was a traffic accident (81%). The right atrium was the most common location of injury (43%). Ten of the 21 patients were suspected to have cardiac tamponade. Significant differences were found in preoperative creatine kinase–myocardial band (CK-MB) levels (p=0.042) and platelet counts (p= 0.004) between the survivors and fatalities. The patients who died had higher preoperative Glasgow Coma Scale scores (p=0.007), worse Trauma and Injury Severity Scores (p=0.007), and higher Injury Severity Scores (p=0.004) than those who survived.ConclusionWe found that elevated CK-MB levels, a low platelet count, and multi-organ traumatic injury were prognostic factors predicting poor outcomes of blunt cardiac rupture. If a patient with blunt traumatic cardiac rupture has these factors, clinicians should be especially attentive and respond promptly in order to save the patient’s life.

Blunt Traumatic Cardiac Rupture Presenting as Massive Haemothorax

Cardiac rupture following blunt thoracic trauma in motor vehicle crash generally causes death at scene, and is rarely diagnosed preoperatively. However, early emergency thoracotomy in the emergency department (ED) or operating room might reduce the mortality but the benefit is still controversial. A haemodynamically unstable 28-year-old woman following motor vehicle crash was detected to have right haemothorax on chest X-ray. Thoracic computed tomography (CT) revealed additional lung contusions and multiple bone fractures. She developed cardiac arrest during open thoracotomy and had restored spontaneous circulation after open-chest cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This report highlights that CT scan in haemodynamically unstable patients could delay surgical control of the injury. Open-chest CPR can be life-saving for blunt chest injury developing cardiac arrest. (Hong Kong j.emerg.med. 2015;22:320-323)

Isolated tear in left atrial appendage due to blunt trauma chest: A rare case report

Blunt traumatic cardiac rupture is associated with a high mortality rate. Motor vehicle accidents account for most cardiac ruptures, but crush injury is relatively rare. We describe a case of a 72-year-old man who had the left atrial appendage ruptured through blunt trauma due to a fall from scooter. Simple suture repair of the atrial appendage was achieved after clamping the base of the left atrium to control the bleeding. He recovered without complication. Traumatic injury to left atrial appendage is rarely seen and reported.

Nonoperative Management of Blunt Traumatic Cardiac Rupture: Considerations of a Novel Approach

Blunt traumatic cardiac rupture carries a dismal prognosis. Patients who survive to presentation are treated with prompt surgical repair. Operative intervention carries significant morbidity and mortality, as these patients present in extremis. Intervention can be complicated by prior cardiac surgery. Obliteration of the pericardial space from adhesions may offer the patient an alternative conservative option under rare circumstances. We present a case of an older man with blunt cardiac rupture caused by a motor vehicle crash. The patient remained hemodynamically stable as his rupture only communicated with a small space within his obliterated pericardial sac. He was managed nonoperatively.

Blunt trauma to the chest- A case of delayed cardiac rupture

Blunt traumatic cardiac rupture is a relatively uncommon diagnosis and is usually associated with a high mortality rate. A case of delayed cardiac rupture is described in an elderly person who sustained blunt chest trauma following a fall into a roadside ditch. In the case reported herein, the preliminary investigations at the time of admission did not show any evidence of haemopericardium. The patient deteriorated suddenly, possibly due to a delayed rupture of the right ventricle that was diagnosed postmortem. Acute cardiac tamponade resulting from rupture of the right ventricle is a serious and life threatening state. A high index of suspicion about the possibility of delayed cardiac rupture is required during the management of a case of polytrauma where significant cardiac findings can be masked by the presence of other injuries.

Letter by Hamilton-Craig et al Regarding Article, “Posttraumatic Cardiac Contrecoup: In Vivo Evidence by Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging”

To the Editor: We propose an alternative explanation to the findings reported by Moccetti et al.1 First, numerous biomechanical explanations of contrecoup injury have been proposed, such as the positive pressure, negative pressure, rotational shear stress, and angular acceleration theories.2,3 These theories relate to transmission of the deceleration force to a soft organ from the surrounding hard structures (eg, brain–skull, lung–ribs). The injury described …

Blunt traumatic cardiac rupture: Therapeutic options and outcomes

Introduction Cardiac rupture following blunt thoracic trauma is rarely encountered by clinicians, since it commonly causes death at the scene. With advances in traumatology, blunt cardiac rupture had been increasingly disclosed in various ways. This study reviews our experience of patients with suspected blunt traumatic cardiac rupture and proposes treatment protocols for the same. Methods This is a 5-year retrospective study of trauma patients confirmed with blunt traumatic cardiac rupture admitted to a university-affiliated tertiary trauma referral centre. The following information was collected from the patients: age, sex, mechanism of injury, initial effective diagnostic tool used for diagnosing blunt cardiac rupture, location and size of the cardiac injury, associated injury and injury severity score (ISS), reversed trauma score (RTS), survival probability of trauma and injury severity scoring (TRISS), vital signs and biochemical lab data on arrival at the trauma centre, time elapsed from injury to diagnosis and surgery, surgical details, hospital course and final outcome. Results The study comprised 8 men and 3 women with a median age of 39 years (range: 24–73 years) and the median follow-up was 5.5 months (range: 1–35 months). The ISS, RTS, and TRISS scores of the patients were 32.18 ± 5.7 (range: 25–43), 6.267 ± 1.684 (range: 2.628–7.841), and 72.4 ± 25.6% (range: 28.6–95.5%), respectively. Cardiac injuries were first detected using focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) in 4 (36.3%) patients, using transthoracic echocardiography in 3 (27.3%) patients, chest CT in 1 (9%) patient, and intra-operatively in 3 (27.3%) patients. The sites of cardiac injury comprised the superior vena cava/right atrium junction ( n = 4), right atrial auricle ( n = 1), right ventricle ( n = 4), left ventricular contusion ( n = 1), and diffuse endomyocardial dissection over the right and left ventricles ( n = 1). Notably, 2 had pericardial lacerations presenting as a massive haemothorax, which initially masked the cardiac rupture. The in-hospital mortality was 27.3% (3/11) with 1 intra-operative death, 1 multiple organ failure, and 1 death while waiting for cardiac transplantation. Another patient with morbid neurological defects died on the thirty-third postoperative day; the overall survival was 63.6% (7/11). Compared with the surviving patients, the fatalities had higher RTS and TRISS scores, serum creatinine levels, had received greater blood transfusions, and had a worse preoperative conscious state. Conclusions We proposed a protocol combining various diagnostic tools, including FAST, CT, transthoracic echocardiography, and TEE, to manage suspected blunt traumatic cardiac rupture. Pericardial defects can mask the cardiac lesion and complicate definite cardiac repair. Comorbid trauma, particularly neurological injury, may have an impact on the survival of such patients, despite timely repair of the cardiac lesions.

Rupture of the left atrial ‘basal’ appendage due to blunt trauma in an elderly patient

Blunt traumatic cardiac rupture is associated with a high mortality rate. Motor vehicle accidents account for most cardiac ruptures, but crush injury is relatively rare. We describe a case of a 77-year-old man who had the left atrial 'basal' appendage ruptured through blunt trauma due to a fall. He was surgically treated and recovered without complication.

Five cases of blunt traumatic cardiac rupture: success and failure in surgical management

We report five cases of blunt cardiac rupture seen in our hospital during the last 6 years. All these patients sustained blunt chest trauma due to motor vehicle or motorcycle accidents, and all had vital signs on arrival at the emergency department. We suspected cardiovascular injuries from the findings of echocardiography and CT scans, and all five cases were operated on 2-6 h after injury. Four had a median sternotomy, and one had a lateral thoracotomy. During the operations, we found that two patients had pericardium injuries and all five patients had right chamber injuries, which included multiple, ventricle, and large venous injuries in three patients. The tears were repaired using simple suture or ligation techniques for all patients, with cardiopulmonary bypass in three patients. One patient died during the operation, and four patients survived, therefore the survival rate was 80%. We believe that patients with cardiac rupture who are alive when they reach hospital can often be saved by prompt diagnosis and immediate, adequate surgical repairs.

Transaortic repair of blunt traumatic cardiac wall and papillary muscle rupture

Transaortic repair of blunt traumatic cardiac wall and papillary muscle rupture

Blunt traumatic rupture of the heart: an experience in Tokyo.

The present study was planned to clarify the characteristics of blunt traumatic cardiac rupture. We performed a retrospective analysis of 63 patients with blunt traumatic cardiac rupture during the period from April 1975 through February 1993. Six of nine patients arrived with recordable blood pressure, and injuries were detected by ultrasonography. Three patients underwent pericardiocentesis before surgery. Seven patients survived overall. The hemodynamics in all seven survivors were stabilized within 3 days after cardiac repair. The survival rate among the patients who arrived with blood pressure was 54%. A patient who fell from higher than 6 meters or a pedestrian hit by car and thrown as short a distance as 6.5 meters may have cardiac rupture. Ultrasonography is a useful, quick, and sensitive way to detect the presence of pericardial fluid. We prefer to do pericardiocentesis with a large-bore catheter under ultrasonographic guidance for continuous pericardial drainage rather than to create a subxyphoid pericardial window for cardiac tamponade.