title: Left main dissection complicating blunt chest trauma: case report and review of literature.
abstract: Coronary artery injury after blunt chest trauma is rare, but can be life-threatening, resulting in severe myocardial ischaemia and acute myocardial infarction. We report a case of a 56-year-old male who presented a few days after a blunt chest trauma with crescendo unstable angina. Coronary angiography demonstrated left main coronary artery dissection that was fixed with stent implantation. After a blunt chest trauma symptoms and electrocardiographic findings of a coronary dissection can be nonspecific and confounded by the chest tenderness. In such cases careful evaluation to rule out traumatic coronary injuries is warranted and early intervention should not be delayed in the presence of clear evidence of myocardial ischemia.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, S. Biagio Hospital, Domodossola, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Colombo
authors.affiliation: Catheterization Laboratory, Villa Torri Hospital, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zuffi
authors.affiliation: Cardiology II, "Maggiore della Carità" University Hospital, Novara, Italy. Electronic address: lupialessandro1@tin.it.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lupi
mesh_terms: D000789:Angina, Unstable / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D003323:Coronary Aneurysm / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000293:injuries*; D006335:Heart Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000601:surgery*
keywords: Acute coronary syndrome; Chest trauma; Coronary dissection; Coronary rupture; Unprotected left main angioplasty