title: Isolated pericardial rupture with left-sided haematothorax after blunt chest trauma.
abstract: Pericardial rupture after blunt chest trauma is described in the literature. The rupture is mostly caused by high velocity trauma with associated injuries. As a result the patients are often critically ill. We describe a case of a 59-year-old man who suffered from an isolated pericardial rupture with a left-sided haematothorax diagnosed 3 months after minimal blunt chest trauma. The patient was operated upon and the defect was closed without detrimental sequelae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Academic Hospital Nijmegen St. Radboud, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Verkroost
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Hensens
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D006335:Heart Injuries / Q000209:etiology*; D006491:Hemothorax / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010496:Pericardium / Q000293:injuries*; D013898:Thoracic Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000150:complications*