• Soykan Arikan, Ahmet Fikret Yücel, Ahmet Kocakuşak, Yildiray Dadük, Gökhan Adaş, and Mehmet Ali Onal.
• Haseki Eğitim ve Araştirma Hastanesi, Acil Cerrahi Kliniği, Istanbul, Turkey. soykanarikan@yahoo.com
• Ulus Travma Acil Cer. 2003 Apr 1; 9 (2): 124-8.

BackgroundPenetrating cardiac stab wounds are among rarely seen traumas, associated with high mortality. We aimed to present and investigate our experience in such cases.MethodsEighteen cases with penetrating cardiac stab wounds, between 1993-2001, were investigated retrospectively. Gender, age, conditions at application, injured areas, extent of cardiac damage, accompanying organ damages and outcomes of these patients were studied.ResultsAll patients were male with a mean age of 25.38 years (between 16-42 years). Heart was the only affected organ in nine 9 patients, whereas there were additional organ injuries in the remaining patients. The injuries were at left ventricle in 11, right ventricle in 4 and right atrium in three patients. Only two patients survived among 14 patients who developed cardiac arrest. There was additional organ damage in three of the six survivors.ConclusionThe overall mortality was 66%. Suspect of cardiac injury should be considered in patients who are injured close around cardiac area and one should intervene quickly both in diagnosis and treatment.

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