Diagnosis of traumatic cardiac contusion
K. Waxman, M. H. Soliman, P. Braunstein, P. Formosa, A. J. Cohen, P. Matsuura and G. R. Mason
Cardiac contusion following blunt chest trauma remains a diagnostic problem
because of a lack of sensitive diagnostic tests. This study evaluated
thallous chloride Tl 201 single-photon-emission computed tomography in a
series of 48 patients following blunt chest trauma. Of the 48 patients, 23
had normal scans. None of these patients proved to have serious arrhythmias
during three days of continuous monitoring. Of 25 patients with abnormal or
ambiguous studies, five (20%) developed serious arrhythmias requiring
therapy. Single-photon-emission computed tomography scanning thus was
sensitive in indicating that group of patients at risk of serious
arrhythmias, and may therefore prove to be a useful screening test to
determine the need for hospitalization and arrhythmia monitoring following
blunt chest trauma.
