[Penetrating right ventricular trauma by stab injury; report of a case]

A 52-year-old woman, who had attempted to commit suicide with a kitchen knife, was admitted. Upon arrival, conscious level was II-30 and blood pressure was 76/46 mmHg. The knife with a blade 20 cm long penetrated the thorax from the 7th left intercostal space beside sternum toward the heart and synchronously moved with pulsation of the heart. The chest X-ray showed the left hemothorax and a computed tomography (CT) revealed the tip of the knife reached the right ventricle. After draining the pleural effusion from the left thorax, the median sternotomy and pericardiotomy were made. The knife was shown to be stuck in right ventricle as it grazed the left anterior descending artery and the right posterior descending artery through pericardium from the apex. The ST segments in II, III, aVF and chests leads were elevated in the preoperative electrocardiography (ECG), but any damage was not recognized in coronary arteries. Under the total bypass on extracorporeal circulation, the knife was removed. The wound at the right ventricle reached about 12 cm length from the apex to the inferior wall. Fortunately, papillary muscles, chorda, septum in the right ventricle and also the left lung were not injured. The wound of the right ventricle was closed with reinforced using felt-strips. The postoperative course was uneventful. This case suggested that the most important factor for survival in cardiac trauma would be to make the hemodynamics stable with the urgent treatment just after arrival and to perform the surgical repair immediately.