Cardiac injuries caused by blunt trauma: an autopsy based assessment of the injury pattern.
Nonpenetrating chest trauma with injury to the heart and aorta has become increasingly common, particularly as a result of rapid deceleration in high-speed vehicular accidents, over the past 2-3 decades. The high mortality rate of cardiac injuries and possible late onset complications make blunt cardiac injuries an important challenging point for legal medicine. One hundred and ninety cases with blunt cardiac injuries in a period of 3 years were analyzed retrospectively in terms of patterns of cardiac injury, survival times, and demographic profiles of the cases in this study.
Turan
Arzu Akcay
AA
Council of Forensic Medicine, Ministry of Justice, Istanbul, Turkey. arzu_turantr@yahoo.com
Karayel
Ferah Anik
FA
Akyildiz
Elif
E
Pakis
Isil
I
Uzun
Ibrahim
I
Gurpinar
Kagan
K
Atilmis
Umit
U
Kir
Ziya
Z
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000401:mortality; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005107:Explosions; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006335:Heart Injuries / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult