Elective surgery for blunt cardiac trauma.

The cases of eight patients who underwent elective surgery for blunt cardiac trauma are presented. All but one experienced multiple trauma and the median Injury Severity Score was 26 (range, 18-59). A posttraumatic cardiac defect was diagnosed from 1 day up to 6.5 years (median, 3 weeks) after the accident. These included mitral regurgitation (n = 4), ventricular septal defect (n = 2), atrial septal defect with mitral regurgitation (n = 1), and ventricular aneurysm (n = 1). Elective cardiac surgery was performed from 4 weeks up to 12 years after the traumatic event (median, 18.5 months). A history of blunt chest trauma requires careful clinical follow-up supported by echocardiography in asymptomatic patients. Surgical therapy is performed according to standard techniques and the results are comparable with those of non-trauma surgery.