|
Nice case, Joe - thanks for posting. I agree, that's a pretty abnormal looking heart...
Kudos to you for thoracotomizing a 95 year-old - not sure I would have...
This is a good example of trusting your gut and not relying on a negative FAST.
In penetrating trauma, it's well recognized that a cardiac injury can present with a negative pericardial view due to decompression into the left chest (hemothorax). I'll be damned if I can figure out how that happened with your guy, though, I've never heard of a blunt _pericardial_ rupture as well...
Thats the fun thing about trauma and why I do it - the patients dont read the textbooks...
Nice case - thanks for presenting it!
R
__________________
Ars Longa, vita brevis
|