Der Chirurg; Zeitschrift für alle Gebiete der operativen Medizen
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Case Reports
[Atrial septum rupture following blunt thoracic injury within the scope of polytrauma].
Blunt thoracic trauma is a frequent diagnosis in polytraumatic patients, blunt cardiac trauma a rare finding. Severe cardiac injuries e.g. myocardial rupture normally result in immediate death of the patients. If patients survive a cardiac trauma, it often remains unrecognized. ⋯ A case report of a traumatic atrial septal defect with left to right shunting due to blunt thoracic trauma in a young man is presented. To our knowledge this is the second case of a successfully repaired traumatic atrial septal defect in literature. Problems regarding diagnosis of the less commonly observed blunt cardiac traumas are discussed.