Traumatic pericardial rupture involved with complication by blunt chest trauma.

A 65-year-old man who had sustained a blunt chest trauma in a traffic accident demonstrated a mass in the left hilum by chest radiography. Emergency surgery demonstrated a rupture of the left-side pericardium with herniation of the heart into the left pleural cavity along with a right ventricular rupture. The tear in the right ventricle was sutured using 4-0 polypropylene with felt and the pericardial rupture was repaired with an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene sheet. A 31-year-old man who had been crushed against a tree while skiing 5 years and 6 months earlier was diagnosed as having severe tricuspid valve regurgitation and tricuspid valve replacement was performed. Large left pericardial defect was found and repaired with an equine pericardial patch. In both cases, a bridging of phrenic nerve was found in the pericardial defect that was regarded as a traumatic rupture.