title: Rupture of the heart in a burn patient: a case report of free wall rupture of the left ventricle.
abstract: A 63-year-old male was burned when in a state of alcoholic intoxication, he fell head first into a bathtub filled with hot water and received burns covering 40 per cent BSA. Despite surgical wound debridement, a severe sepsis continued and a sudden cardiac arrest occurred. Autopsy revealed a large volume of blood in the pericardial space. The heart was ruptured through a myocardial abscess in the posterior wall of the left ventricle. The principle cause of his death was attributed to acute cardiac tamponade following cardiac rupture through a myocardial abscess.
authors.affiliation: Trauma and Critical Care Centre, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kasai
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
mesh_terms: D000038:Abscess / Q000150:complications; D000208:Acute Disease; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications*; D002305:Cardiac Tamponade / Q000150:complications; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000150:complications; D006341:Heart Rupture / Q000209:etiology*; D006352:Heart Ventricles; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000150:complications