Nonpenetrating traumatic rupture of the tricuspid valve. Formation of ventricular septal aneurysm and subsequent septal necrosis: recognition by two-dimensional Doppler echocardiography.

A 26-year old man was admitted with blunt trauma to the chest following a high-speed deceleration injury. A two-dimensional Doppler echocardiogram demonstrated traumatic rupture of the tricuspid valve and a hematoma in the basilar portion of the interventricular septum. Serial two-dimensional Doppler echocardiographic analyses demonstrated evolutionary formation of a septal aneurysm and subsequent rupture with formation of a ventricular septal defect. The usefulness of the two-dimensional Doppler echocardiogram as a screening tool for cardiac contusion is discussed.