Reversal of myocardial dysfunction due to brain injury.
Severe myocardial dysfunction after blunt head injury is a rare but potentially lethal complication. We describe remarkable myocardial recovery after severe hemodynamic deterioration in a young man with brain injury, due to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Because of the severity of brain damage, the patient succumbed after diagnosis of brain death. Postmortem histopathological examination of the heart showed severe myocardial necrosis.
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University Hospital Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937 Cologne, Germany. jens.wippermann@uk-koeln.de
Jens
J
Wippermann
Gerardus
G
Bennink
Thorsten
T
Wittwer
Navid
N
Madershahian
Christian
C
Ortmann
Thorsten
T
Wahlers
D000328:Adult; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*