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Cardiac Gunshot Injury: A Serendipitous Miss!

Jeetesh Jain1, Dinkar Bhasin1, Anunay Gupta1

  • 1Department of Cardiology, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India.

JACC. Case Reports
|July 28, 2021
PubMed

Insights

A rare thoracic gunshot injury case involved a bullet ricocheting into the pericardium without damaging heart structures. Multimodality imaging enabled safe surgical removal, avoiding cardiopulmonary bypass.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Surgery
  • Trauma Surgery
  • Radiology

Background:

  • Penetrating cardiac injuries often result in severe outcomes.
  • Thoracic gunshot wounds typically cause significant damage to cardiac structures.

Observation:

  • A rare case of a thoracic gunshot injury is presented.
  • The bullet ricocheted and lodged within the pericardium.
  • Crucially, adjacent cardiac structures remained undamaged.

Findings:

  • Multimodality imaging was instrumental in precisely locating the foreign object.
  • Imaging facilitated a thorough assessment of potential damage.
  • Surgical intervention was planned and executed successfully.

Implications:

  • This case demonstrates the possibility of non-damaging pericardial foreign body lodgment.
  • Multimodality imaging is vital for accurate diagnosis and surgical planning in complex trauma.
  • Successful surgical management without cardiopulmonary bypass offers a less invasive approach for selected cases.

Keywords:
CECT, contrast-enhanced computed tomographycardiac traumaechocardiographygunshot injuriespenetrating cardiac injurypericarditissternotomythoracic injuries

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