Cardiac rupture secondary to blunt trauma: A rapidly diagnosable entity with two-dimensional echocardiography

• Published in: Annals of emergency medicine Vol. 20; no. 8; pp. 902 - 904
• Main Author: Baxa, Mark D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Mosby, Inc 01.08.1991; Elsevier
• Subjects: Accidents, Traffic; Biological and medical sciences; cardiac rupture; Echocardiography; Female; Heart Injuries - complications; Heart Injuries - diagnosis; Heart Injuries - etiology; Heart Injuries - surgery; Heart Ventricles - injuries; Humans; Hypotension - etiology; Injuries of the thorax. Foreign bodies. Diseases due to physical agents; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Traumas. Diseases due to physical agents; two-dimensional echocardiography; Wounds, Nonpenetrating - complications; cardiac rupture; two-dimensional echocardiography; Heart; Case study; Sonography; Human; Echocardiography; Right ventricle; Rupture; Traffic accident; Cardiovascular disease; Complication; Diagnosis; Trauma
• ISSN: 0196-0644; 1097-6760
• DOI: 10.1016/S0196-0644(05)81435-0

A 58-year-old woman involved in a single automobile accident sustained an isolated rupture of the right ventricle without any other obvious form of external trauma. On presentation to an outlying hospital, hypotension was the only apparent clinical finding suggestive of injury After several hours of delay, the patient was transferred to a tertiary medical center. The diagnosis of cardiac rupture was made by two-dimensional echocardiography. The patient underwent successful surgical repair and was discharged home in good condition eight days after sustaining this potentially fatal injury.