Template:Background BCI

Blunt cardiac injury

Spectrum of Blunt Cardiac Injury
  • A spectrum of disease due to blunt trauma to the chest wall
  • Ranges from cardiac contusion to infarction to cardiac rupture and death.[1]
    • Commotio cordis is sudden cardiac arrest resulting from blunt chest trauma, in absence of underlying cardiac disease[2]
    • Up to 20% of all MVC deaths are due to blunt cardiac injury
  1. El-Menyar A, Al Thani H, Zarour A, Latifi R. Understanding traumatic blunt cardiac injury. Ann Card Anaesth. 2012 Oct-Dec;15(4):287-95. doi: 10.4103/0971-9784.101875.
  2. Yousef R, Carr JA. Blunt cardiac trauma: a review of the current knowledge and management. Ann Thorac Surg. 2014 Sep;98(3):1134-40. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2014.04.043.