Cardiac concussion following softball blow to the chest

We report two cases of sudden death in young men following softball blows to the chest. The deaths were presumed to be due to cardiac dysrhythmias because no significant traumatic lesions were found at autopsy. Cardiac concussion has rarely been reported to cause death. Lethal cardiac dysrhythmias may, however, occur following a sharp precordial blow without producing detectable chest wall or intrathoracic lesions.