CTICasesTraumatic Pericardial Rupture with Cardiac Herniation (Empty Pericardial Sac Sign)
Imaging findings
Chest radiograph and CT in a trauma patient demonstrate marked displacement and clockwise rotation of the heart into the left hemithorax. The heart has herniated through a rupture in the left pericardial membrane, resulting in the empty pericardial sac sign (where the space normally occupied by the heart contains air or fluid) and displacement of the ventricles.
Key takeaways
Traumatic pericardial rupture is a rare complication of severe blunt chest trauma. Herniation of the heart through the pericardial defect can lead to torsion of the great vessels, venous obstruction, profound hypotension, or sudden cardiac death. In very large defects where constriction is unlikely, surgical repair may occasionally be deferred, but most cases require prompt surgical reduction and pericardial closure.
AI-assisted summary — may contain errors. Verify against the source video. Learn more
More from this webinar
- Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (PAPVR) and Cor Triatriatum SinisterCongenital
- Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (TAPVR) with Anomalous Systemic Venous Drainage (IVC to Left Atrium)Congenital
- Pulmonary Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (PLCH)ILD
- Mounier-Kuhn Syndrome (Tracheobronchomegaly) in a Young FemaleCongenital
- Post-CABG Saphenous Vein Graft Pseudoaneurysm and Chest Wall HematomaIatrogenic
- Mounier-Kuhn Syndrome (Tracheobronchomegaly) in an Elderly Asymptomatic MaleCongenital
- Caseous Calcification of the Mitral Annulus (CCMA) with Pulmonary MAC InfectionMetabolic
- Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) Thrombus with Embolic StrokeVascular
See all cases from March 2, 2017 →