• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.559-563
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• 1996

We have experienced a patient, 16 year-old male, with ventricular septal defect with tricuspid recur- gitation due to blunt chest trauma. He suffered from congestive heart failure after the trauma. Echocardiogram and cardiac catheterization revealed left to right shunt at the ventricular level (muscu- far portion of interventricular septum) and tricuspid regurgitation. At the time of the operation, marked systolic thrill was palpable over the rlght ventricle near the apex and a chorda tendina was seen sharply ruptured just near the medial papillary muscle. We repaired the ventricular septal defect with a Dacron patch and chordal reconstruction with autologous pericardium. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged in good condition.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.1085-1088
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• 1998

Background: In trauma patients, bony thorax are exposured to the trauma in many cases. With simple x-ray, we can not detect all definitive bony abnormalities, especially in less severe cases. Bone scan is very sensitive diagnostic method in such cases. Materials and methods: We experienced 680 cases and results were as follows. Results: 1. Diagnostic sensitivity was 97.4% and false negative rate was 2.6%. 2. In sensitivity study, the time factor(when we perform bone scan) was the most important thing according to trauma pattern. In rib fracture, sensitive test time was after 1 week. In sternal fracture, sensitive test time was after 1 week, too. In costochondral junction fracture and combined cases, it was after 3 days. Conclusions: We recommend timely using of bone scan as definitive diagnostic method in bony thorax trauma patients.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.188-191
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• 2006

Tricuspid regurgitation after blunt chest trauma is rarely seen in the emergency department. A 19-year-old patient visited our emergency department with chest discomfort after collision with his brother while skiing. Recently, Skiing as a winter sports has become popular with the Korean people, so there is an increasing tendency for patients with diverse traumas associated with ski accidents to visit the emergency department. From simple abrasions or contusions to deadly injuries with unstable vital signs, we are seeing many kind of injuries in the emergency department. We present the case report of a patient with tricuspid regurgitation after a blunt chest trauma during the skiing.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.905-915
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• 1990

A clinical evaluation was performed on 545 cases of the chest trauma those had been admitted and treated at the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery in Chosun University Hospital during the past 11 years 5 months period from January 1978 to may 1989. Obtained results were as follows: 1. The ratio of male to female was 3.9: 1 in male predominance, and the majority[66.6%] was distributed from 3rd to 5th decade. 2. Nonpenetrating chest trauma was more common than penetrating about 4.6 times, and the most common cause of the nonpenetrating injuries was traffic accident[241/448, 53.8%] and of the penetrating injuries was stab wound[88/97, 90.7%]. 3. Only 79 cases[14.5%] were arrived to our emergency room within one hour after trauma. 4. The most common lesion due to trauma among these admitted patients was rib fracture[390/545, 71.6%], and the others were lung contusion[217/545, 39.8%], hemothorax[35%], hemopneumothorax[19.6%], and pneumothorax[11.8%] et al in decreasing order. 5. The associated injuries those required special treatment of other departments were 223 cases and its distributions were bone fractures[178/545, 32.7%], head injury[5.3%], and abdominal injury[6.6%]. 6. The others, but interesting chest injuries were follows: sternum fracture[3.1%], diaphragm rupture[2.6%], myocardial laceration and rupture[2 cases], bronchial rupture and laceration[2 cases], and traumatic thymoma rupture[1 case]. 7. The incidence of flail chest was 5.8%a[26/448] in the nonpenetrating injury, and the causes were multiple rib fracture which was in rows more than 4 rib fracture[20 cases], and sternum fracture[6 cases]. 8. We could managed the most of the patient with conservative treatment[43.1%] or closed tube thoracostomy[52.7%], but required emergency open thoracotomy in 64 cases

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.586-590
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• 1999

Tracheobronchial rupture is one of the less-common injuries associated with blunt chest trauma. The diagnosis of tracheobronchial rupture is not easy, but failure to diagnosis may lead to death or long-term disability. Early diagnosis and appropriate management can reduce the mortality and morbidity. Bronchoscopy is the diagnostic method of choice for patients with tracheobronchial rupture. We report a case of tracheal rupture after blunt chest trauma. A 40-year-old man was transferred to our hospital for dyspnea after blunt chest trauma. He was promptly diagnosed as tracheal rupture by fiberoptic bronchoscopy and chest computed tomogram. He was successfully managed by thoracotomy and primary repair.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.226-232
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• 2009

Background: Blunt chest trauma accounts for 90% of all chest traumas in Europe and the United States and this causes 20% of all trauma-related deaths. The major cause of morbidity and mortality after blunt chest trauma is undetected injuries. For this reason, chest computerized tomography has gained popularity for the evaluation of trauma, but it is expensive and it exposes patients to radiation. This study identified the clinical features associated with the diagnosic information obtained on a CT chest scan, as compared with a standard chest X-ray, for patients who sustained blunt trauma to the chest. This study also evaluated the role of a routine computed tomographic (CT) scan for these patients. The patients who had chest computed tomography done after the initial chest x-ray were analyzed separately for the presence of occult injuries. Material and Method: We studied 100 consecutive patients from November 2006 to July 2007: 74 patients after motor vehicle crashes and 26 patients after a fall from a height >2m. Simultaneous with the initial clinical evaluation, an anteroposterior chest radiograph and a helical chest CT scan were obtained for all the patients. The data extracted from the medical record included the vital signs, the interventions and the type and severity of injury (RTS). Result: Among the 100 cases, 79 patients showed at least more than one pathologic sign on their chest radiograph, and 21 patients had a normal chest radiograph. For 17 of the patients who had a normal chest X ray, the CT scan showed multiple injuries, which were pneumothorax, hemothorax, lung contusion, sternal fracture etc. This represents that a CT scan is statistically superior to a chest radiograph to diagnose the pathologic signs. But on the other hand, as for treatment, only 31 patients were diagnosed by CT scan and they were treated with chest tube insertion ect. 42 patients needed ony conservative management without invasive thoracosurgical treatment such as chest tube insertion or open thoracotomy. 27 patients were treated based on the diagnosis made by the chest radiograph and physical examination. Conclusion: Chest computerized tomography was significantly more effective than routine chest X-ray for detecting lung contusion, pneumothorax and mediastinal hematoma, as well as fractured ribs, scapula and, sternum. Although the occult findings increased, the number of patients who needed treatment was small. Therefore, we suggest making selective use of a CT scan to avoid its overuse in ERs.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.307-315
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• 1988

A clinical analysis was performed on 97 cases of chest injuries experienced at Department of Thoracic and cardiovascular Surgery, Armed Forces Capital Hospital during 2 years period from 1986 to 1988. Of 97 patients of chest trauma, 39 cases were result from penetrating injuries whereas 58 cases were from non-penetrating injuries, and there were 77 cases of hemothorax and / or pneumothorax, 47 of rib fracture, 8 of foreign body, 6 scapular and clavicle fracture, 5 of diaphragmatic injuries, 4 of paraplegia. The majority of chest injuries were encounted in the age group between 21 and 30 years-old, mean age was 25.9 years-old and all cases were male except one. Gun-shot wound was the most common cause in the penetrating injuries and the majority of non-penetrating chest injury patients were traffic accident and fist or kick accounted for next. The principles of therapy for chest trauma were rapid expansion of the lung by closed thoracostomy[45 cases] and thoracentesis only[3 cases] but thoracotomy done at 27 cases because of massive bleeding or intrapleural hematoma, foreign body, cardiac injury, diaphragmatic injury and bronchial rupture. The over-all mortality was 2.07 percent[2 cases among all], a case was from penetrating injuries and another was from non-penetrating injuries.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.38-40
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• 1976

Rupture of a bronchus is an unusual result of nonpenetrating trauma to the chest. This case was a 19 year old male who was a worker in the mine. The patient had sustained a compression chest injury without external wound or rib fracture. At five days after trauma, he was suffered from dyspnea and the symptom was progressively increased. Two weeks after the chest trauma, a diagnosis of left main bronchial obstruction due to traumatic bronchial rupture was made by means of bronchoscopy and bronchography. He was operated upon. The left lung was completely atelectatic and the left main bronchus was found to be transected at the level of 3cm from carina. End-to-end anastomosis of the bronchus was performed and the left lung was aerated very well. postoperative course was uneventful.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.66-68
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• 1998

A 27-year-old male presented with an anterior myocardial infarction following blunt chest trauma sustained in motorcycle accident. On examination, there was no visible wound on the chest wall. Echocardiogram showed dyskinesia over anterior left ventricular wall. Subsequent coronary angiogram demonstrated dissection at the proximal portion of the left anterior descending coronary artery and left ventriculogram showed apical anerysm and thrombus. He was treated by coronary artery bypass graft.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.715-722
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• 1984

From 1978 to April 30 84 thirteen cases of cardiac injured patients were operated under general anesthesia at Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in Chonnam National University. These patients were divided Into two groups according to their cause of trauma: Group 1, penetrating cardiac injury and Group II, blunt cardiac injury. 1.In 7 cases of Group 1, 6 cases were stab wound and one case was gunshot wound, and among 6 cases of Group II, 3 cases traffic accident, 2 cases pedestrian, 1 case agrimotor accident. 2.The sites of cardiac injury in penetrating trauma were right ventricle mainly and the next left ventricle and in blunt trauma right ventricle, myocardial contusion, right atrium, and inferior vena cava in order. 3.In most of cases central venous pressure was elevated above 15 cmH2O and in 5 of 13 cases revealed cardiomegaly in simple chest X-ray. 4.The relationship between the condition on arrival and the time to operation is not significant. 5.Associated injuries in penetrating cardiac trauma were hemothorax, pneumothorax, laceration of lung and in blunt trauma hemothorax, sternal fracture, rib fracture and pneumothorax in order. 6.One case of gunshot injury died after operation.