A 54 year-old man without prior cardiac history was involved in a motor vehicle accident.
His heart rate was 100/min and blood pressure 128/78 mmHg. He complained of anterior chest pain, and on examination had a loud pan-systolic
murmur with no clinical signs of heart failure. Three-dimensional trans-oesophageal
echocardiography (3D-TOE) demonstrated partial rupture of the inferior head of the
anterior papillary muscle (when 2D-TOE did not), causing severe tricuspid regurgitation.
This was successfully repaired.
Tricuspid valve insufficiency is a rare, but well documented, complication of blunt
chest trauma. The majority of cases of tricuspid regurgitation caused by blunt trauma
are diagnosed and treated late after the traumatic event. Acute diagnosis is less
common but possible with a high level of vigilance, and is greatly aided by clinical
indicators of cardiac injury. We describe a case of acute repair of traumatic tricuspid
insufficiency, in which diagnosis and surgical planning were greatly aided by 3D-TOE.
Keywords
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
November 8,
2010
Received in revised form:
October 23,
2010
Received:
June 15,
2010
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 Australasian Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
