Cardiac contusions (contusio cordis) usually appear in penetrating thoracic trauma or high energy blunt trauma and only rarely in thoracic blunt trauma in homicidal context. The diagnosis could be easy if a traumatic context is/can be proven; if not the differential diagnosis with myocardial infarction, other causes of cardiac hemorrhages or post resuscitation cardiac trauma can be very difficu...

An important complication of chest trauma is serious cardiac problems. The fatal conditions like cardiac arrhythmias, including ventricular fibrillation and sudden cardiac arrest can occur in both cardiac concussion (commotio cordis) and cardiac contusion (contusio cordis). Commotio cordis is to be distinguished from cardiac contusion (contusio cordis) or blunt cardiac injury, a condition in wh...

The expression “contusio cordis” defines a lesion of the cardiac myocyte, hemorrhagic or fibrotic, due to the application of violent kinetic force resulting from a blunt trauma to the precordial region1. Syncope is almost always the first clinical manifestation observed, and commonly precedes death. Contusio cordis differs from commotio cordis, the latter representing a cardiac electromechanica...

Commotio cordis is a phenomenon in which a sudden blunt impact to the chest causes sudden death in the absence of cardiac damage. This condition was first described in the middle of the 18th century in the context of chest trauma among workers.1 Through most of the 20th century, it was only sporadically reported. In the last 2 or 3 decades, commotio cordis events have primarily occurred in spor...