[Atrial septum rupture following blunt thoracic injury within the scope of polytrauma].

Blunt thoracic trauma is a frequent diagnosis in polytraumatic patients, blunt cardiac trauma a rare finding. Severe cardiac injuries e.g. myocardial rupture normally result in immediate death of the patients. If patients survive a cardiac trauma, it often remains unrecognized. The interval between trauma and diagnosis of cardiac injury can make up several months up to years. This applies in particular for the traumatic atrial septal defect. A case report of a traumatic atrial septal defect with left to right shunting due to blunt thoracic trauma in a young man is presented. To our knowledge this is the second case of a successfully repaired traumatic atrial septal defect in literature. Problems regarding diagnosis of the less commonly observed blunt cardiac traumas are discussed.