Cardiac rupture secondary to blunt trauma: a rapidly diagnosable entity with two-dimensional echocardiography.

A 58-year-old woman involved in a single automobile accident sustained an isolated rupture of the right ventricle without any other obvious form of external trauma. On presentation to an outlying hospital, hypotension was the only apparent clinical finding suggestive of injury. After several hours of delay, the patient was transferred to a tertiary medical center. The diagnosis of cardiac rupture was made by two-dimensional echocardiography. The patient underwent successful surgical repair and was discharged home in good condition eight days after sustaining this potentially fatal injury.