Rupture of the heart in a burn patient: a case report of free wall rupture of the left ventricle.

A 63-year-old male was burned when in a state of alcoholic intoxication, he fell head first into a bathtub filled with hot water and received burns covering 40 per cent BSA. Despite surgical wound debridement, a severe sepsis continued and a sudden cardiac arrest occurred. Autopsy revealed a large volume of blood in the pericardial space. The heart was ruptured through a myocardial abscess in the posterior wall of the left ventricle. The principle cause of his death was attributed to acute cardiac tamponade following cardiac rupture through a myocardial abscess.