• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.168-170
• /
• 2011

Blunt cardiac rupture is uncommon and is associated with significant mortality. Patients with blunt cardiac rupture usually have combined injury and do not always show signs of cardiac tamponade, which delays the diagnosis of cardiac rupture and increases mortality. We report a case of cardiac rupture diagnosed and treated by using only thoracic exploration based on clinical impression, with radiologic studies, including even echocardiography, showing negative results.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.71-74
• /
• 2014

Among chest trauma patients, cardiac laceration is a rare, but severe, condition requiring prompt management. Depending on the patient's hemodynamic status, early detection rate of a cardiac laceration may or may not be occur. If a possibility of cardiac laceration exists, an emergent thoracotomy should be performed. Furthermore, patients who experience a cardiac laceration also experience different kinds of complications. Therefore, close follow-up and monitoring are required. Herein, we report a 41-year-old man with a left atrium and a left ventricle laceration caused by a thoracic stab injury.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.40 no.1 s.270
• /
• pp.66-68
• /
• 2007

Traumatic cardiac injury is an extremely serious medical condition. It is possible to overlook a cardiac injury where there is no chest wall trauma. We here report the 47-year-old woman who got a crach car accident and had a tear of the right atrium. The distortion force from a decelerating injury may cause cardiac rupture at a fixed point. The most common symptom that alerts the clinician to a potentially fatal cardiac injury is the change in vital signs. Therefore cardiac injury should be considered in any patient with unexplained hypotension who has experienced decelerating trauma, even without external injury to the chest wall.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.273-282
• /
• 2013

The present study was designed to investigate the cardioprotective effects of Korean Red Ginseng extract (KRG) on isoproterenol (ISO)-induced cardiac injury in rats, particularly in regards to electrocardiographic changes, hemodynamics, cardiac function, serum cardiac enzymes, components of the myocardial antioxidant defense system, as well as inflammatory markers and histopathological changes in heart tissue. ISO (150 mg/kg, subcutaneous, two doses administered at 24-hour intervals) treatment induced significant decreases in P waves and QRS complexes (p<0.01), as well as a significant increase in ST segments. Moreover, ISO-treated rats exhibited decreases in left-ventricular systolic pressure, maximal rate of developed left ventricular pressure ($+dP/dt_{max}$) and minimal rate of developed left ventricular pressure ($-dP/dt_{max}$), in addition to significant increases in lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase and creatine kinase activity. Heart rate, however, was not significantly altered. And the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase were decreased, whereas the activity of malondialdehyde was increased in the ISO-treated group. ISO-treated group also showed increased caspase-3 level, release of inflammatory markers and neutrophil infiltration in heart tissue. KRG pretreatment (250 and 500 mg/kg, respectively) significantly ameliorated almost all of the parameters of heart failure and myocardial injury induced by ISO. The protective effect of KRG on ISO-induced cardiac injury was further confirmed by histopathological study. In this regard, ISO treatment induced fewer morphological changes in rats pretreated with 250 or 500 mg/kg of KRG. Compared with the control group, all indexes in rats administered KRG (500 mg/kg) alone were unaltered (p>0.05). Our results suggest that KRG significantly protects against cardiac injury and ISO-induced cardiac infarction by bolstering antioxidant action in myocardial tissue.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.270-275
• /
• 1999

Background: In the patients with thoracic injury, we suspect simultaneous cardiac contusion or concussion. We analyzed the patients with possible cardiac injury by electrocardiography, serum creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase isoenzyme fraction (CK-MB) screening, followed by two dimentional echocardiogram (2-DE) to access the severity of injury. Material and Method: From January 1997 to April 1998, 15-month retrospective study of suspicious myocardial injury was undertaken in including 24 patients admitted for suspected cardiac injury. All patients with history or signs of blunt chest injury were checked serially and the serial CK, CK-MB fraction, electrocardiography (EKG) analysis screening were followed by 2-DE. Result: The age range was between 20-40 years and were predominant male patients in(M:F=3:1). Most common causes of injury were traffic accidents, 15 patients(62.5%). Associated injuries involved multiple rib fractures, sternal fracture and such. EKG findings on the cardiac concussion were within normal limits, EKG findings on the cardiac contusion were nonspecific ST and T wave abnormality. In cardiac contusion patients, CK-MB fraction did not increase significantly on admission but on 2nd, 3rd, 4th hospital days, it increased significantly (p=0.0080, 0.0130, 0.0130). The average admission days were 9.22 in concussion and 26.18 in contusion patients(p=0.0075). Most common complication was the adult respiratory distress syndrome(7 cases), 5 out of the patients with ARDS were mechanically ventilated. There were no deaths. Conclusion: We believe the serial checks of CK-MB, EKG and subsquent two-dementional echocardiographic sector scanning are presently the most sensitive indicators available for structural and functional cardiac injury.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.929-935
• /
• 1990

Violence in our society, combined with improving transport system, resulted in increased numbers of patients with cardiac wounds reaching the hospital alive. Most patients with penetrating cardiac injury, rather than blunt injury, present with a syndrome of either hemorrhagic shock or cardiac tamponade. And they should be operated upon as soon as possible. Often the atrioventricular valves and other important cardiac structures are also damaged by the penetrating instruments or missile. Both intracardiac communications and atrioventricular fistulas may result in significant left-to-right shunts accompanied by congestive heart failure, necessitating surgical correction. Usually, retained cardiac foreign bodies, which are almost always bullets or fragments of missiles, may lie within a cardiac chamber or in the myocardium. Emboli of bullets or other missiles from distant sites to the right side of the heart are numerous enough to require attention. Recently we experienced a case with intracardiac foreign body due to penetrating cardiac injury. A 19 year-old man was admitted to our hospital due to penetrating anterior chest wound by iron segment. The roentgenogram of the chest revealed a radio-opaque metallic shadow in left lower chest around the cardiac apex, mild blunting of left costophrenic space, but no cardiomegaly. During operation the foreign body was noted to be present in the cardiac chamber by the portable C-arm fluoroscopy. But during the manipulation it moved into left inferior pulmonary vein from left ventricle by way of left atrium. So we could manage to remove it from left inferior pulmonary vein by direct approach to the vein. It was iron segment, sized 0.lcm x0.6cmx0.5cm, with sharp margins. The patient had an uneventful postoperative recovery except for chylopericardium and was discharged.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.427-431
• /
• 1987

A case is presented of a steering wheel Injury to the chest which developed right atrial free wall rupture and cardiac tamponade without rib fractures or hemo-pneumothorax. A 30 year old man who sustained, blunt chest trauma by steering wheel injury to his chest developed right atrial rupture and cardiac tamponade. Pericardiocentesis was performed and cardiac tamponade was confirmed. After a median sternotomy, large right atrial free wall laceration [about 8cm] was noted. He was placed on cardiopulmonary bypass. The laceration wound of right atrium was closed with a 2 rows of continuous suture. Recovery was uneventful. The patient has returned to his previous level of activity.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.5-8
• /
• 2014

Although blunt traumatic cardiac rupture is an uncommon injury, it can be associated with a high mortality rate. Two cases of cardiac rupture in blunt trauma patients are described herein. In those cases, applications of mechanical support devices such as ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) and early surgery for exploration under cardiopulmonary bypass may be helpful for treating blunt chest trauma patients.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.286-289
• /
• 2023

Torso stab injuries near the cardiac box may present unique challenges due to difficulties in hemorrhage control. For a stab injury to the heart, the repair is straightforwardly performed via median sternotomy. In contrast, injuries to the inferior vena cava are challenging to repair, especially when they are close to the diaphragm, and the bleeding can be torrential. Herein, we describe a case of a self-inflicted stab wound within the "cardiac box." The trajectory of the stab injuries went below the diaphragm and injured the infradiaphragmatic inferior vena cava. Successful emergent repair via the thoraco-laparotomy approach revived the young man. In this report, we revisit and discuss previous large series of patients with this rare vena cava injury.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.63 no.4
• /
• pp.151-156
• /
• 2020

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is one of the most significant postoperative complications of pediatric cardiac surgery. Because serum creatinine has limitations as a diagnostic marker of AKI, new biomarkers including neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), and interleukin-18 (IL-18) are being evaluated to overcome these limitations and detect AKI at an early stage after cardiac surgery. Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the clinical usefulness of these biomarkers in young children. Methods: Thirty patients with congenital heart diseases who underwent cardiac surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) were selected, and their urine and blood samples were collected at baseline and 6, 24, and 48 hours after surgery. Serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels as well as NGAL, KIM-1, and IL-18 levels in urine samples were measured, and clinical parameters were evaluated. Results: Of the 30 patients, 12 developed AKI within 48 hours after cardiac surgery. In the AKI group, 8 of 12 (66.6%) met AKI criteria after 24 hours, and urine KIM-1/creatinine (Cr) level (with adjustment of urine creatinine) peaked at 24 hours with significant difference from baseline level. Additionally, urine KIM-1/Cr level in the AKI group was significantly higher than in the non-AKI group at 6 hours. However, urine NGAL/Cr and IL-18/Cr levels showed no specific trend with time for 48 hours after cardiac surgery. Conclusion: It is suggested that urine KIM-1/Cr concentration could be considered a good biomarker for early AKI prediction after open cardiac surgery using CPB in young children with congenital heart diseases.