title: Delayed cardiac rupture occurring two months after blunt chest trauma.
abstract: We describe a rare case of successful repair of delayed cardiac rupture due to blunt chest trauma; the cardiac rupture occurred 74 days after the trauma. A 75-year-old woman with a history of blunt chest trauma that caused multiple rib fractures underwent an emergent thoracotomy due to left hemothorax. A coin-sized pericardial defect and cardiac rupture on the left ventricle was found to be close to a fractured rib, which was thought to have damaged the myocardium and thus induced time-dependent myocardial degeneration. The cardiac rupture and the pericardial defect did not induce life-threatening cardiac tamponade; however, the cardiac rupture did induce hemothorax, which could be successfully treated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Ishinomaki Red Cross Hospital, 71 Hebita-Nishimichisita, Ishinomaki, Miyagi 986-8522, Japan. shiueda-ths@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Shinsaku
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Konnai
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Katsuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Isogami
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006335:Heart Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D006491:Hemothorax / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D013536:Suture Techniques; D013898:Thoracic Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D013908:Thoracotomy; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery