The Double Jeopardy of Blunt Chest Trauma: A Case Report and Review

Cardiac injury, specifically valvular rupture, must be considered after blunt chest trauma even in previously healthy patients. Isolated mitral regurgitation (MR) and tricuspid regurgitation (TR) due to blunt chest trauma are rare phenomena. More unique is simultaneous complete papillary muscle rupture of the mitral valve (MV) and tricuspid valve (TV) with only four patients being previously reported in the literature. This case describes a patient with complete transection of the posteromedial papillary muscle of the MV with severe MR and a concomitant flail TV with severe TR following a motor vehicular accident. The importance of transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography in the early evaluation of patients following blunt chest trauma is also highlighted by this case.