tree, which showed no evidence of tears or fresh blood. A left chest drain was inserted with immediate drainage of 1600 ml of blood. The drain was removed after three days, with a chest radiograph before discharge (eight days) showing regression of the mediastinal haematoma and expansion of the lung. In this case, despite the moderate trauma, both the chest radiography and computed tomography r...

BACKGROUND The pathogenesis of sudden cardiac death in college athletes has not been defined by systematic case identification. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 45 cases of sudden cardiac death were identified in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes from 2004 to 2008 based on an internal reporting system and review of media reports. Autopsy reports were reviewed and adjudica...

TO DETERMINE cardiac performance, a comparison between the whole heart and isolated (skeletal) muscle often has been made. Otto Frank (1895) designed his beautiful experiments on the frog heart following "the same pattern which Fick and Von Kries used in their studies of skeletal muscle. . . ." A similar comparison between heart and muscle can be found in Starling's formulation of, his "law of ...

PURPOSE Ocular trauma is common in civilian and military populations. Commotio retinae involves acute disruption of photoreceptor outer segments after blunt ocular trauma, with subsequent photoreceptor apoptosis causing permanent visual impairment. The mechanisms of photoreceptor death in commotio retinae have not previously been described, although caspase-dependent death is important in other...

"The exact mechanism for closure of the mitral valve is unknown." This was stated in a textbook on The heart, published in 1978.1 Ifthis problem has not yet been clarified it is not through lack of effort, the work of many authors having produced various ideas since Galen. Galen's clear appreciation of the function of the heart valves is evident from the following passage: "The common purpose o...

The basic techniques involved in this life-saving procedure are relatively simple and it is thus perhaps surprising that blood transfusion only became a part of routine clinical practice relatively recently. Blood-letting (venesection) was widely practised for a variety of medical conditions from the time of Hippocrates (<430 bc) through to the nineteenth century in Europe and yet transfusion o...

Nonpenetrating, blunt chest trauma is a serious medical condition with varied clinical presentations and implications. This can be the result of a dense projectile during competitive and recreational sports but may also include other etiologies such as motor vehicle accidents or traumatic falls. In this setting, the manifestation of ventricular arrhythmias has been observed both acutely and chr...

OBJECTIVES In an experimental model of sudden death from chest wall impact (commotio cordis), we sought to define the chest wall areas important in the initiation of ventricular fibrillation (VF). BACKGROUND Sudden death can result from an innocent chest blow by a baseball or other projectile. Observations in humans suggest that these lethal blows occur over the precordium. However, the preci...

Ectopia cordis is a rare congenital malformation in which the heart is located partially or totally outside the thoracic cavity. The estimated prevalence of ectopia cordis is 5.5-7.9 per million births and it comprises 0.1% of congenital heart diseases. Ectopia cordis is associated with other congenital heart diseases and various tissue and organ disorders. Common cardiac anomalies associated w...

sudden cardiac death (scd) in a young athlete is rare, but catastrophic. exercise acts as a risk factor for scd in people with cardiovascular disease. a diversity of cardiovascular disorders including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, congenital coronary anomalies, arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, dilated cardiomyopathy, aortic rupture due to marfan syndrome, myocarditis, valvular disease...