Left Atrial Appendage Rupture due to Blunt Chest Trauma during a Motor Vehicle Accident―a Rare Case Report―

Ryota Nomura＊	Shinji Kawaguchi＊	Shinnosuke Goto＊
Yasuhiko Terai＊	Muneaki Yamada＊	Yuta Miyano＊
Daisuke Uchiyama＊	Masanao Nakai＊	Fumio Yamazaki＊

（Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Shizuoka City Shizuoka Hospital＊, Shizuoka, Japan）

Blunt traumatic rupture of the heart carries a high mortality rate. Anatomical injuries have included the atrium, appendage and ventricle but injury to the left appendage has been reported very rarely. We present the case of a 71-year-old female who was a driver in a motor collision with major front-end damage where air bags were deployed. After being intubated and receiving pericardiocentesis for cardiac tamponade at an advanced critical care and emergency medical center, the patient was taken to our hospital and emergently to the operating room for exploration. There was brisk bleeding coming from a 2cm laceration on the left atrial appendage. The injury was repaired using 4-0 polypropylene felt pledget-supported horizontal mattress sutures on the beating heart with the assistance of cardiopulmonary bypass. The present report describes this patient and our findings from a literature review.

 

Jpn. J. Cardiovasc. Surg. 50:165-169（2021）

Keywords：blunt cardiac injury;motor vehicle accident;atrial appendage rupture