Case report Rupture of the left atrial 'basal' appendage due to blunt trauma in an elderly patient

Blunt traumatic cardiac rupture is associated with a high mortality rate. Motor vehicle accidents account for most cardiac ruptures, but crush injury is relativelyrare. We describea case of a 77-year-old man whohad theleft atrial‘basal’ appendageruptured throughblunt traumadue to a fall. He was surgically treated and recovered without complication. # 2008 European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.