THIS issue of the Journal contains an important clinical study that describes the significance of a cardiac troponin I release in severe trauma patients. The incidence of troponin release was 12% and the authors identified three different patterns of troponin release: 1) a very transient ( 12 h) and limited ( 2 g/l) release that is likely related to the hyperadrenergic state observed in hemorrh...

Blunt traumatic cardiac rupture is rare and associated with high mortality. The most popular theory of cardiac rupture after blunt thoracic trauma is rapid deceleration with disruption of the atria from their connections to the vena cava and pulmonary veins. In cases with both massive hemothorax and hemopericardium, injury can usually originate from the heart and/or major vessels. Surgical appr...

Simultaneous cardiac and pericardial rupture from blunt chest trauma is a highly lethal combination with rarely reported survival. We report of a case of young patient with a right atrioventricular groove injury, pericardial rupture and a unique description of a coronary sinus avulsion following blunt chest trauma. Rapid recognition of this injury is crucial to patient survival, but traditional...

BACKGROUND Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is the most abundant adrenal hormone in man and has been shown to improve immune functions after trauma-hemorrhage. However, it remains unknown whether this agent has any salutary effects on the depressed organ functions under such conditions. HYPOTHESIS Administration of DHEA after trauma-hemorrhage attenuates depressed cardiac and hepatocellular func...

The seventh London Trauma Conference was once again held at The Royal Geographical Society in London from 10–13 December 2013. Over four days the latest innovations and best practice in cardiac, trauma and pre-hospital trauma care were presented and discussed. It opened with the London Cardiac Arrest Symposium, kindly sponsored by Zoll, with Dr David Zideman providing the Douglas Chamberlain Le...

Penetrating trauma is a rare cause of myocardial infarction. Our report describes a 47-year-old female who presented with a gunshot wound from a shotgun and had an ST-elevation myocardial infarction. The patient received emergent coronary angiography, which demonstrated no evidence of coronary atherosclerotic disease but did show occlusion of a marginal vessel secondary to a pellet. The patient...

Commotio cordis is a rare type of blunt cardiac injury in which low impact chest trauma causes sudden cardiac arrest, usually occurs from being struck by a projectile during sports. The most common arrhythmia during commotio cordis is ventricular fibrillation, although complete heart block and an idioventricular rhythm have also been reported. We describe a case of a young patient who presented...