Penetrating chest trauma: the role of emergency echo

Corresponding author: Dr. Fabio Guarracino Cardiothoracic Department Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana, Pisa, Italy Via Paradisa, 2 56123 Pisa, Italy e.mail: [email protected] A 38 year male was transferred to our Cardiothoracic Department with a long blade into the thorax following suicide attempt. On arrival in the operating room the blade moved synchronous with cardiac rhythm. Penetrating chest trauma is a class I indication for echocardiography (1), so a transthoracic echo study with Focus Assessed Transthoracic Echo (FATE) approach (2) was immediately and rapidly performed upon arrival in theatre, which showed the tip of the blade being close to the left ventricular apex (Figure 1) in the pericardial space, and excluded the presence of the Penetrating chest trauma: the role of emergency echo