Blunt cardiac rupture: a 5-year NTDB analysis

Because of its rarity and high rate of mortality, traumatic blunt cardiac rupture (BCR) has been poorly studied. The objective of this study was to use the National Trauma Data Bank to review the epidemiology and outcomes associated with traumatic BCR.

After approved by the institutional review board, the National Trauma Data Bank (version 5.0) was queried for all BCR occurring between 2000 and 2005. Demographics, clinical injury data, interventions, and outcomes were abstracted for each patient. Statistical analysis was performed using an unpaired Student's t test or Mann-Whitney U test to compare means and chi analysis to compare proportions. Stepwise logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent predictors of inhospital mortality.

Of 811,531 blunt trauma patients, 366 (0.045%) had a BCR of which 334 were available for analysis, with the mean age of 45 years, 65% were men, and their mean Injury Severity Score was 58 +/- 19. The most common mechanism of injury was motor vehicle collision (73%), followed by pedestrian struck by auto (16%), and falls from height (8%). Twenty-one patients (6%) died on arrival and 140 (42%) died in the emergency room. The overall mortality for patients arriving alive to hospital was 89%. Of the patients surviving to operation, 42% survived >24 hours of which 87% were discharged. Survivors were significantly younger (39 vs. 46 years, p = 0.04), had a lower Injury Severity Score (47 vs. 56, p = 0.02), higher Glasgow Coma Scale (10 vs. 6, p < 0.001), and were more likely to present with an systolic blood pressure >or=90 mm Hg (p = 0.01). Nevertheless, none of these factors was found to be an independent risk factor for mortality.

BCR is an exceedingly rare injury, occurring in 1 of 2400 blunt trauma patients. In patients arriving alive to hospital, traumatic BCR is associated with a high mortality rate, however, is not uniformly fatal.