Death due to disruption of sternal fixation wire--a rare complication after open heart surgery through sternotomy: report of a case.

Following sternotomy for open heart surgery, a 57-year-old man had the sternum closed in the usual manner with six No.22 gauge stainless steel wire sutures. Twenty-four days later, sternum disruption occurred with only one wire suture in place, 3 wire sutures cutting through the bone, and 2 wire sutures fractured. A lacerating injury over the anterior surface of the right ventricle was rendered by these 2 fractured wires followed by fatal outcome. To our knowledge, death induced by fractured wires has not been reported. We report in this communication what we believe to be the first case in the literature.