Traumatic rupture of the coronary sinus following blunt chest trauma: a case report

Cardiac rupture is rare but potentially life-threatening complication after chest trauma. We present the case of a 57-year-old male who developed cardiac arrest because of extensive pericardial tamponade after a falling injury. We decided to perform an exploratory sternotomy in the operating room (OR). The patient was transported to the OR on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. We found a rupture of the coronary sinus after evacuation of an extensive hematoma in the pericardium and primarily repaired the injured site. After 2 days, the patient died due to refractory cardiogenic shock. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of rupture of the coronary sinus after blunt chest trauma. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13019-014-0164-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.