The Thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon
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Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · Aug 1989
Case ReportsPenetrating wound of the right ventricle with intracardiac retention of the foreign body.
The rare case of a penetrating cardiac wound with fortuitous outcome caused by a disintegrating rotating electric saw at the patient's home is described. The patient was successfully treated in two stages: Emergency treatment in the nearest hospital, where no extracorporeal circulation facilities were available, to stop the bleeding, followed by transport to, an cardiac surgery in university hospital, where a foreign body in the right ventricle was removed. Pathophysiology of heart wounds and their surgical treatment are discussed.