Blunt cardiac trauma

Abstract

The incidence of cardiac injury after blunt chest trauma is difficult to determine and ranges from 8% to 76%. Moreover, the clinical presentation varies tremendously without a real gold standard to exclude or document cardiac involvement. Electrocardiogram as a single test is not sensitive or specific for diagnosing cardiac contusion. Furthermore, creatine kinase MB is non-reliable in the setting of severe trauma involving the liver, intestines or diaphragm. Although troponins T and I are highly specific for cardiac injury, their sensitivity in the setting of trauma is poor. The echocardiogram is very useful in the evaluation of trauma patients with suspected cardiac involvement. However, poor windows in the setting of chest and lung injuries and in intubated patients might be a major problem limiting the accuracy of transthoracic echocardiogram. On the other hand, transesophageal echocardiogram seems to be more sensitive and specific in trauma patients and should be the test of choice in patients with high clinical suspicion for blunt cardiac trauma.