Myocardial contusion in blunt chest trauma: a ten-year review.

A retrospective review was undertaken of 169 patients admitted to an Intensive Therapy Unit with a major chest injury to determine the incidence, clinical features and outcome of patients with myocardial contusion. This injury occurred in 29 (17%) patients, of whom 24 (83%) had significant cardiovascular complications and five died as a direct result of the injury. The interval between injury and diagnosis was 3.2 +/- 2.3 days (mean +/- SD) from injury and in six patients the diagnosis was made only at necropsy. Increased awareness of myocardial contusion is required for earlier diagnosis and prevention of complications.