Penetrating cardiac injuries: assessment of 21 patients

BACKGROUND
Penetrating cardiac injuries carry high mortality rates due to serious clinical outcomes. This study was planned to investigate patients treated surgically in our hospital for penetrating cardiac injury.
METHODS
In this article, we reviewed retrospectively 21 patients (18 male, 3 female) suffering from penetrating heart injuries who admitted to our hospital between February 2006 and January 2011. Patients were evaluated with respect to clinical findings, treatment methods and clinical outcomes.
RESULTS
Among the patients, 19 cases were due to stab injury and 2 cases to gunshot injury. Emergent surgical interventions were performed in all patients. Cardiac injuries involved the right ventricle in 13 patients, left ventricle in 5 patients and right atrium in 3 patients. There was no left atrial injury. Cardiac injuries were repaired by primary suturing method. Mortality was determined in 6 patients (28.6%).
CONCLUSION
Penetrating cardiac injuries are seen generally in young people. Early transport, proper resuscitation and emergent surgery treatment improved survival in patients who sustained penetrating cardiac injuries.

Penetran kardiyak yaralanmalar: 21 olgunun deðerlendirilmesi

AMAÇ
Penetran kardiyak yaralanmalar, ciddi klinik sonuçlarý sebebiyle yüksek mortalite oranýna sahiptir. Bu çalýþmanýn amacý, hastanemizde penetran kardiyak yaralanma nedeniyle cerrahi tedavi uygulanan hastalarýn araþtýrýlmasýdýr.
GEREÇ VE YÖNTEM
Bu yazýda, Þubat 2006 ve Ocak 2011 tarihleri arasýnda hastanemize penetran kalp yaralanmasý þikayeti ile baþvuran 21 hasta (18 erkek, 3 kadýn) geriye dönük olarak incelendi. Hastalar klinik bulgular, tedavi yöntemleri ve sonuçlarý açýsýndan deðerlendirildi.
BULGULAR
Olgularýn 19’u delici kesici alet, 2’si ateþli silah yaralanmasý þeklindeydi. Tüm olgulara acil cerrahi giriþim uygulandý. Kardiyak yaralanma 13 olguda sað ventrikül, 5 olguda sol ventrikül ve 3 olguda sað atriyum yaralanmasýný içeriyordu. Sol atriyum yaralanmasý gözlenmedi. Kardiyak yaralanmalar primer dikiþ yöntemi ile onarýldý. Mortalite 6 olgu ile %28,6 olarak saptandý.
SONUÇ
Penetran kardiyak yaralanmalar genellikle genç yaþ grubunda görülmektedir. Erken transport, uygun resüsitasyon ve acil cerrahi tedavi penetran kalp yaralanmasý olan hastalarýn hayatta kalma oranýný artýracaktýr.