[Diagnosis and therapy of acute penetrating myocardial injury (author's transl)].

Clinical signs of an acute penetrating wound of the heart not always are clear. Because of hemorrhage and reduced cardiac output during heart tamponade venous pressure not necessarily must be increased. If by pericardiocentesis an aspiration of blood is possible, diagnosis of a penetrating heart wound is of high probability; otherwise there is no diagnostic value of a negative pericardiocentesis. Only in a case of a very small cardiac wound pericardial drainage can be used as a sole therapeutic proceeding; clinical observation is mandatory and an emergency operation at all time must be possible. In most cases immediately thoracotomy with suture of the cardiac wound should be performed. Attention is necessary because of an injury of a coronary artery. Following this principle prognosis is good if the patient is reaching clinical treatment alive. Lethal outcome in 2 of our 12 reported cases in one of them is caused by refusing immediate surgical intervention by the patient himself, in the other by development of ischemic cardiac necrosis involving a papillary muscle after suturing a cardiac wound.