The first 70 years experience managing cardiac disruption due to penetrating and blunt injuries at the University of Louisville.

Survival of patients with cardiac injuries requires prompt intervention and cardiography. Approximately 50 years ago, Dr. R. Arnold Griswold instituted a treatment plan for the management of cardiac injuries. Many of the tenets he espoused are still in use today. We have been able to collect data on 266 patients with heart wounds from 1913 to 1982 at Louisville General Hospital. Trends in the evolution of injury patterns and their treatment will be discussed.