Off-pump cardiac revascularization after a complex stab wound

Penetrating cardiac injuries are among the most dramatic and lethal of all injuries. High survival rates in selected reports have given the erroneous impression that the lethality of cardiac injuries has diminished in recent years. In a review of 1,198 cases of penetrating cardiac trauma from South Africa, only 6% of patients arrived at hospital alive. Many patients with proximal coronary artery injuries present without signs of life. Cardiopulmonary bypass is advocated as a means of salvage, but mortality rates are high. We present a case of arterial revascularization using off-pump technology. © 2002 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.