Sudden death from myocardial contusion following an isolated blunt force trauma to the chest

Abstract

Cardiac contusion is a common concomitant injury in blunt, non-penetrating chest trauma and is mostly a benign disorder which remains undiagnosed. In the case presented, a young man sustained a single blunt trauma to the chest from falling pieces of a wooden wheel and died at the scene. Among other findings, the autopsy revealed a circumscribed detachment of the coronary arteries on the anterior side of the heart. The most unusual findings were lacerations of the vessel wall layers in these areas which could already be seen at the autopsy and were proven by histological examination.