Post-cardiac injury syndrome

Post-cardiac injury syndrome is caused by the combination of damage to pericardial mesothelial cells and blood in the pericardial space. We describe the case of post-cardiac injury syndrome after blunt chest trauma.

Blunt Trauma to Brachiocephalic Artery: Presentation and Management

Isolated innominate artery injury is very rare and accounts for less than 3% of recognized arterial injuries. Surgical exploration of the artery, especially at the origin of the artery from the arch of the aorta, is surgically challenging. Due to its rarity, any 1 surgeon’s experience in dealing with innominate artery injury is bound to be limited. We report 2 cases of innominate artery injury post-blunt chest trauma. Both patients underwent thoracotomy and innominate artery Dacron graft repair and both had an uneventful postoperative course.

Blunt aortic injury: Surgical treatment of the ascending and descending aorta

Traumatic aortic injury is potentially fatal. Although uncommon, involvement of the aortic arch and the ascending aorta can occur. This case shows concomitant dissection of the ascending and descending sections of the aorta after blunt chest trauma where the open surgical approach was successfully performed to treat both aortic injuries.

Extrapericardial cardiac tamponade secondary to traumatic hemorrhage of the thymus

This report describes a 90-year-old man who sustained blunt chest trauma that progressed to circulatory failure from an enlarging anterior mediastinal hematoma. Emergent sternotomy was performed, revealing a hematoma primarily involving the thymus that was promptly evacuated. Extrapericardial cardiac tamponade is an uncommon event that occurs when fluid collects within the mediastinum but outside the pericardium. Hemodynamically significant hemorrhage of the thymus is rare because the gland begins to involute early in development. To our knowledge, cardiac tamponade secondary to traumatic hemorrhage of the thymus has not been previously described. Early recognition and hematoma evacuation can be lifesaving.