Penetrating cardiac injuries: 28-year data analysis

Background: Penetrating cardiac injuries are a dramatic and lethal form of trauma. They are usually sustained by young people. The majority of victims die before reaching the hospital. Aim of the study: The aim of the study was to establish prognostic criteria for the outcome of penetrating cardiac injury. Material and methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 186 patients with penetrating cardiac injuries who were operated on during the first 24 hours after admission. Results: The mean age was 33 (interquartile range (IQR): 26-44) years. 88.7% of victims were male. The mean time from the moment of trauma to arrival at the hospital in Vilnius city was 60 minutes (IQR: 50-91), whereas from the Vilnius region it was 240 (IQR: 82-390) minutes. The vast majority of patients (176/186, 94.6%) sustained stab wounds. Hemopericardium or cardiac tamponade (142/186, 76.3%) usually was found at the operation. Right ventricle was the most often injured heart chamber (75/186, 40.3%). Associated injuries were evaluated in 57.0% (106/186) of patients. The survival rate on discharge was 88.7%. Compared to non-survivors, the lucky patients had a higher systolic blood pressure on admission (94 mm Hg (IQR: 70-120) versus (vs.) 70 mm Hg (IQR: 0-80), p < 0.001). Survivors had all signs of life (SOL) more often (82.4% vs. 42.9%, p < 0.001), whereas more frequent findings in non-survivors were the following: tamponade (52.4% vs. 29.1%, p = 0.031), higher grade (IV-VI) of injury (90.5% vs. 29.7%, p < 0.001), injured right atrium (28.6% vs. 8.5% p = 0.014) or left ventricle (42.9% vs. 23.0%, p = 0.049) and an episode of heart arrest (85.7% vs. 7.9%, p < 0.001). Independent prognostic factors of survival were the presence of all SOL and