Blunt traumatic rupture of the heart, pericardium, and supradiaphragmatic inferior vena cava: case report.

Before 1955 blunt traumatic ruptures of the heart and pericardium were reported almost exclusively in autopsy reports. Since then, because of improved prehospital care and early triage, it has been demonstrated that injuries resulting in rupture of the heart and pericardium are no longer always fatal. We present a case of a patient who arrived at the hospital with increasing abdominal girth and a tender abdomen who on exploration was found to have a tear of the pericardium and atrial appendage compounded by a supradiaphragmatic tear of the inferior vena cava.