Stab wounds of the heart (Hebrew)

Three patients with stab wound injuries of the heart are presented. All required immediate operation and one who in addition had an abdominal injury, required abdominal exploration. In two of the patients, the main source of intrapericardial bleeding was the outflow tract of the right ventricle and in the third patient, the lateral wall of the left ventricle. All patients had additional lacerating wounds of the mammary artery, pericardium or liver. One of the patients was in her eighth mth of pregnancy and one mth after operation delivered a healthy baby. From this limited experience, it appears that the proper management of stab wounds of the heart is most probably immediate operation to stop intrapericardial bleeding, as well as that from other injuries.