Abstract

MORENO-MARTINEZ, Francisco L. et al. Penetrating foreign body in the left ventricle with undetected chronic evolution. Arch. Cardiol. Méx. [online]. 2009, vol.79, n.1, pp.46-50. ISSN 1665-1731.

Penetrating cardiac trauma constitutes a serious threat for life. Less than the third part of all patients who suffer it arrives at the hospital alive, and half of them die. Most of the penetrating foreign bodies in the heart are metallic, and are frequently caused by firearms and rarely by self-injury. The accidental penetration is uncommon but inadvertent penetration is extremely rare. We present the case of a patient who suffered a closed-chest trauma and did not notice the penetration of a foreign body (copper wire fragment) in the heart. It remained lodged in the left ventricle for more than 3 months. This it is the only case reported in the literature where a strange body: a) crosses the free wall of the right ventricle, the right ventricular cavity, interventricular septum, and the mitral valve apparatus; b) occupies almost all the anteroposterior diameter of the heart, and c) did not produce acute or chronic bleeding.

Keywords : Penetrating cardiac trauma; Intracardiac foreign body; Coronary angiography; Cardiac surgery.

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