Highly acute course of ruptured papillary muscle of the tricuspid valve in a case of blunt chest trauma.

The sudden onset of tricuspid insufficiency following a blunt chest trauma is extremely rare. We operated on a young woman in a state of severe shock following a riding accident, in whom complete severing of the papillary muscle of the posterior tricuspid leaflet had occurred. The valvuloplasty operation itself and the postoperative course ran smoothly, apart from a late pericardial tamponade which required surgical revision. In accordance with other reported cases we believe that traumatic tricuspid insufficiency is still a very underestimated pathological occurrence. Echocardiographic examination should therefore be regarded as an essential standard procedure in all cases of blunt chest injury.