Concomitant Traumatic Coronary Artery Dissection and Tricuspid Valve Injury: A Case Report

Abstract

Among the causes of death in all age groups, deaths due to trauma rank third after cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Until age 40, chest trauma constitutes 20-25% of the causes of deaths due to trauma. Blunt cardiac trauma develops frequently following motor-vehicle accidents and its mortality rate is high. Of all types of cardiac injury that can result from blunt chest trauma, coronary artery dissection is the most infrequent one. The consequences of coronary artery dissections are variable, ranging from none or mild myocardial infarction to massive myocardial infarction or death. We report two unusual cardiac complications of blunt chest trauma: a traumatic dissection in both left anterior descending artery (LAD) and right coronary artery (RCA), concomitant with tricuspid insufficiency due to papillary muscle rupture. The management of the patient had to be tailored due to the complexity of the presentation. The final treatment plan resulted in uneventful clinical course and good overall medical results.




J Med Cases. 2011;2(4):174-177
doi: https://doi.org/10.4021/jmc242w