Adding fuel to the fire: Coronary artery dissection complicating blunt chest trauma

Abstract A 21 year-old male presented to the emergency department with 6 h of atypical chest pain after suffering blunt chest trauma. His electrocardiogram revealed 1–1.5 mm ST segment elevation in leads V1-V3 with reciprocal depressions in II, III, and aVF. Mid-anterior wall akinesis was observed on echocardiography associated with an estimated left ventricular ejection fraction of 40%. A left main coronary artery dissection was diagnosed and treated surgically with a bypass graft. Although rare, coronary dissections can be a catastrophic complication of chest trauma.