Background: Cardiac penetration wounds have high mortality which need a rapid diagnosis and surgical intervention.
Methods: Between May 1999 to May 2002, 196 thoracic penetration cases who were admitted to emergency department were examined and in 12 (6.1%) of them cardiac penetration was diagnosed. In this retrospective study, the cardiac penetration cases were evaluated.
Results: All the cases were male, 11 of them were injured by stab wounds, and one case by a gunshot wound. We performed left anterolateral thoracotomy in nine of the cases, right anterolateral thoracotomy in two cases and a median sternotomy in one case. Two of the cases died.
Conclusion: The survival chance of the cases can be increased with rapid diagnosis and surgical intervention.