Delayed complications after myocardial contusion.
A 45 year old farmer was kicked in the chest by a horse. In the days following the injury episodic breathlessness developed and he was admitted to hospital with right ventricular failure and pulmonary emboli. Echocardiography showed global right ventricular dysfunction but a right ventricular mural thrombus, the likely source of the pulmonary emboli, was not seen. He gradually recovered after treatment with anticoagulant. One month later he presented with a further complication--complete atrioventricular dissociation--that required a dual chamber pacemaker implantation. This patient had few initial manifestations of right ventricular myocardial contusion and this case illustrates that such patients should be closely monitored for delayed complications.
Grech
E D
ED
Department of Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Centre, Liverpool.
Dodds
P A
PA
Perry
R A
RA
D003288:Contusions / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006327:Heart Block / Q000209:etiology*; D006335:Heart Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013997:Time Factors; D016278:Ventricular Function, Right / Q000502:physiology