Heart Compressed Air Shot - Conservative Management Tiro de Aire Comprimido en el Corazón - Manejo Conservador

SUMMARY Objective: Modern air guns are capable of propelling projectiles at high speed, causing severe injuries. Penetrating cardiac trauma usually presents with hemodynamically unstable patients, requiring emergency interventions. Th e management of these patients, when clinically stable, is controversial. Description: We’ll describe the case of a 3-year-old boy hit by a compressed air shot in the chest at a 2 meters distance. At admission, echocardiography showed a small slide of right pleural eff usion, preserved cardiac function, and a hyperechoic image projected inside the interventricular septum. Th ree-dimensional echocardiography showed no projectile extension to the ventricular cavities. Chest CT showed a small right pleural eff usion and a totally intramyocardial metallic artifact in the interventricular septum topography. Comments: Th e patient remained clinically stable during hospitalization. Conclusion: We chose conservative management and outpatient follow-up with serial measurements of serum lead and echocardiographic review.