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Cardiac contusion
From WikEM
Contents
Background
- Cardiac contusion is on the spectrum of Blunt cardiac injury (BCI), which ranges from mild contusion to cardiac rupture.[1]
- Autopsy shows patchy necrosis and hemorrhage of damaged areas of myocardium and is the "gold standard" for research[2]
Mechanism of injury
- MVC is common, but crush injuries, CPR and others have also been described.
- Can occur with decelerations from as little as less than 20mph[3]
Clinical Features
Differential Diagnosis
Thoracic Trauma
- Airway/Pulmonary
- Cardiac/Vascular
- Cardiac contusion
- Cardiac trauma
- Cardiac tamponade
- Commotio cordis
- Musculoskeletal
- Other
Evaluation
Diagnosis is difficult due to spectrum of clinical disease and lack of adequate test in the ED
- Physical exam
- Majority (75%) of patients will have evidence of chest wall trauma[4]
- Imaging[4]
- CXR and CT Chest are neither sensitive nor specific for cardiac contusion, but may show other blunt cardiac injury
- Echocardiography may be useful - contusion will show localized wall motion abnormality
- ECG - may be normal or show non-specific abnormalities[4]
- most common abnormality in order (sinus tachycardia, PVCs, atrial fibrillation)
- 81–95% of life threatening ventricular arrhythmias and acute cardiac failures occur within the first 24–48 hrs
- Cardiac enzymes (Troponin, CK-MB)[4]
- CK-MB is neither sensitive nor specific
- Troponin is specific for cardiac injury, but not sensitive for cardiac contusion
Management
- Treatment is generally supportive and based on clinical presentation[4]
- Do NOT treat arrhythmias prophylactically (increased mortality!)
- Do NOT give thrombolytics for signs of myocardial infarction (increased mortality)
Disposition
- Patients with mild injury, normal ECG, and negative Troponin can likely be discharged after period of observation[4]
- Admit to telemetry bed for:
- Hemodynamic instability
- Abnormal ECG
- Elevated troponin
Prognosis
- Generally favorable prognosis
- Even if patient has minor wall motion abnormality, mild arrhythmia, etc, these usually resolve within 1 day[5]
- Long-term sequelae are rare in hemodynamically stable patient without significant ECG abnormality
- Severe cardiac contusion may rarely lead to ventricular remodeling and aneurysm
- Short tele admit as 81-95% of ventricular dysrhythmias and cardiac failure within 1-2 days after trauma[6]
See Also
References
- ↑ El-Menyar A, Al Thani H, Zarour A, Latifi R. Understanding traumatic blunt cardiac injury. Ann Card Anaesth. 2012 Oct-Dec;15(4):287-95. doi: 10.4103/0971-9784.101875.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Emet M, Saritemur M, Altuntas B, et al. Dual-source computed tomography may define cardiac contusion in patients with blunt chest trauma in ED. Am J Emerg Med. 2015 Jun;33(6):865.e1-3. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2014.12.059.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 El-Chami MF, Nicholson W, Helmy T. Blunt cardiac trauma. J Emerg Med. 2008 Aug;35(2):127-33.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Sybrandy KC, Cramer MJM, Burgersdijk C. Diagnosing cardiac contusion: old wisdom and new insights. Heart. 2003;89(5):485-489.
- ↑ Bock JS, Benitez RM. Blunt cardiac injury. Cardiol Clin. 2012 Nov;30(4):545-55. doi: 10.1016/j.ccl.2012.07.001.
- ↑ K C Sybrandy, M J M Cramer, and C Burgersdijk. Diagnosing cardiac contusion: old wisdom and new insights. Heart. 2003 May; 89(5): 485–489.
