Avulsion of a normal aortic valve cusp due to blunt chest injury

The successful operative treatment of aortic valve disruption caused by forceful blunt chest trauma in a 30-year-old previously healthy man is reported. The patients' left coronary cusp was completely avulsed at its annular insertion. Aortic valve replacement with a 23-mm Carpentier-Edwards porcine xenograft was performed. The literature on this rare condition is reviewed.