Valvular injuries resulting from blunt chest trauma.

The occurrence of valvular lesions alone as a result of nonpenetrating trauma is not common. Most reports have shown mainly isolated rupture of the aortic valve, whereas, reports of traumatic rupture of the tricuspid valve without associated injuries are rare in the literature. At our center, three patients were treated for traumatic valvular rupture-one had aortic insufficiency and the other two had tricuspid insufficiency. The time interval between trauma and surgery was 10 weeks for the aortic rupture, 18 months for one tricuspid valve rupture, and 18 years for the other. After surgical treatment, all three patients have continued to be asymptomatic.