Cardiac rupture from blunt trauma with atrial septal defect.

A review of the literature disclosed 63 survivors of cardiac chamber rupture from blunt trauma, with no mention of associated atrial septal defect. I treated a 17-year-old girl and a 33-year-old man who survived cardiac rupture from motor vehicle accidents, both of whom were discovered postoperatively on echocardiography to have atrial septal defects.