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Complete Heart Block Following Penetrating Chest Trauma in Operation Iraqi Freedom
Author(s) -
ECKART ROBERT E.,
FALTA EDWARD M.,
STEWART ROBERT W.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
pacing and clinical electrophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.686
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1540-8159
pISSN - 0147-8389
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-8159.2008.01057.x
Subject(s) - medicine , heart block , block (permutation group theory) , medical emergency , cardiology , electrocardiography , geometry , mathematics
We present a 30‐year‐old US army soldier who had penetrating chest trauma from a road side explosive with focal cardiac injury. The soldier had penetration of his right atrium and subsequent traumatic membranous ventricular septal defect and complete heart block. He was brought to a Combat Support Hospital where fortuitously the assigned trauma surgeon on‐call was a cardiothoracic surgeon, and the assigned trauma intensivist on‐call was a cardiac electrophysiologist. Of course, the only source they knew of a pacemaker was halfway around the world. We discuss the management of this injury in an austere combat environment.