The treatment of trauma to the heart has been written about since 3000 BC and had an inauspicious beginning. Until the late 19th century, the commonly held belief agreed with Boerhaave’s sentiments that, “all penetrating cardiac trauma is fatal.” Theodore Billroth warned, “The surgeon who should attempt to suture a wound of the heart would lose the respect of his colleagues.” Paget believed tha...

Disgust reactions can be elicited using stimuli that engender orogastric rejection (e.g., pus and vomit; core disgust stimuli) but also using images of bloody injuries or medical procedures (e.g., surgeries; blood [body] boundary violation [B-BV] disgust stimuli). These two types of disgust reaction are presumed to be connected by a common evolutionary function of avoiding either food- or blood...

To cite: Barnard EBG, Rimmer J, McD Johnston A. Thorax 2013;68:794–795. Three patients with unusual additional sounds heard on auscultation of the precordium were admitted to a military hospital in Afghanistan. Patient 1: A male in his 20s was shot in his left flank. Injuries included a left haemothorax and visceral injuries. An intercostal drain (ICD) was inserted. After surgery, he was admitt...

Penetrating heart injuries can be lethal. Here we report a case of self-inflicted cardiac injury with glass fragments by a psychiatric patient. The patient presented with cardiogenic shock and was initially treated surgically for a large pneumothorax and cardiac tamponade. A few days later she presented with dyspnoea and hypotension. An echo-Doppler study was performed and an acquired post-trau...

AIM In this study, we aimed to explore the toxic mechanisms of cardiovascular injuries induced by ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in atherosclerotic-susceptible ApoE(-/-) mice. An acute toxicological animal experiment was designed with PM2.5 exposure once a day, every other day, for three days. METHODS ApoE(-/-) and C57BL/6 mice were randomly categorized into four groups, respectively...

The aim of the study was to present one clinic’s experience in the treatment of thoracic injuries. Particular attention was paid to the methods for treatment of patients after thoracic injuries. Material and methods. During the years 1996-2006, 273 patients with thoracic injuries were hospitalized in the clinic; 0.9% of all patients treated during this time. There were 66 women (24.2%) and 207 ...