title: Penetrating cardiac injuries. Two case reports.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Penetrating cardiac injuries is still a diagnostic problem at this time. Their management requires immediate surgical intervention and excellent surgical critical care postoperatively.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 15-year old male patient was stabbed with a knife to the right chest. The chest radiograph showed an haemothorax and the angiography showed an intercostals artery and a right auricle injury. After an emergency operation the patient was released home in good condition after the toracotomy had healed. A 19-year old male patient was stabbed with a knife to the chest more than once. By a left toracotomy we sutured the lesion of the left ventricle with multiple single stitch in non-absorbable suture, we covered the suture with a sealant. The patient released home in 24 days.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Penetrating cardiac injuries is one of the leading cause of death from urban violence. To evaluate a thoracic trauma with cardiac injury it's clear the use of thorax X-ray and multislice angio-Tc scan. Echocardiography has clearly emerged for the diagnosis in patients haemodynamically stable. When the patient is haemodynamically unstable the emergency thoracotomy is mandatory.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite the high mortality of penetrating cardiac injuries new surgical and radiological tecniques may help surgeon to save this patients.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Castriconi
authors.forename: Patrizio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Festa
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bartone
authors.forename: Mauro Domenico Natale
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Maglio
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vicenzo
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Papaleo
authors.forename: Beatrice Ulloa
authors.initials: BU
authors.lastname: Severino
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clemente
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martino
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D006335:Heart Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014950:Wounds, Penetrating / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult