Isolated Rupture of the Ventricular Septum Due to Nonpenetrating Trauma Report of a Case Treated by Open Cardiotomy Under Simple Hypothermia

Isolated rupture of the ventricular septum of the heart is an unusual result of chest trauma due to blunt force and may occur even in the absence of rib fractures. Ventricular septal defects may also occur in conjunction with other traumatic heart lesions, such as chamber or aortic valve rupture, 9 and they may be produced by penetrating wounds of the heart.* Few traumatic ventricular defects have been diagnosed during life, and only five such patients are known to have received surgical treatment. 4,11,12,15 In only one other patient, with an interventricular septal rupture due to nonpenetrating injury, has surgical repair been carried out. 11 The use of hypothermia for this purpose has not previously been reported. Report of Case History. —A U. S. airman, white, aged 19, was seen on April 4, 1956, as an unconscious stretcher patient. About one and one-half hours earlier, the patient's automobile had missed