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The high mortality rate of blunt cardiac injuries is primarily due to the condition's severity and the challenges associated with pre-hospital survival. The absence of definitive diagnostic modalities necessitates prompt and adaptable surgical intervention. We present an 18-year-old male who sustained a right atrial blunt traumatic cardiac rupture following a motor vehicle collision. Despite initial stabilization with blood products and vasopressors and the necessitated emergent surgical exploration, the case required various surgical techniques, including anterolateral followed by an extension to a clamshell thoracotomy and laparotomy to manage the complex cardiac rupture and associated injuries. Furthermore, it underscores the critical nature of surgical incision in such patients and its impact on the overall prognosis. The successful outcome, highlighted by intraoperative decision-making and proper postoperative care, demonstrates that with timely and adaptable surgical approaches, even the most severe cases of traumatic blunt cardiac ruptures can be managed effectively.

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Life-threatened injured patients who suffer a cardiovascular arrest after a trauma are still enormously challenging for both the paramedics and the trauma team in the clinic. This case illustrates the treatment of a 16-year-old boy who suffered a blunt abdominal trauma with a traumatic cardiac arrest followed by an open resuscitation after clamshell thoracotomy. Subsequently, the treatment after damage control is discussed regarding the current literature and recommendations for treatment.

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BACKGROUND: Despite numerous promising innovations, the chance of survival from sudden cardiac arrest has remained virtually unchanged for decades. Recently, technological advances have been made, user-friendly portable devices have been developed, and advanced invasive procedures have been described that could improve this unsatisfactory situation. METHODS: A selective literature search in the core databases with a focus on randomized controlled trials and guidelines. RESULTS: Technical aids, such as feedback systems or automated mechanical cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) devices, can improve chest compression quality. The latter, as well as extracorporeal CPR, might serve as a bridge to treatment (with extracorporeal CPR even as a bridge to recovery). Sonography may be used to improve thoracic compressions on the one hand and to rule out potentially reversible causes of cardiac arrest on the other. Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta might enhance myocardial and cerebral perfusion. Minithoracostomy, pericardiocentesis, or clamshell thoracotomy might resolve reversible causes of cardiac arrest. CONCLUSIONS: It is crucial to identify those patients who may benefit from an advanced or invasive procedure and make the decision to implement the intervention in a timely manner. As with all infrequently performed procedures, sound education and regular training are paramount.

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A 38-year-old man was pressed on his trunk by a heavy object weighing about 100 kg. The patient was in shock status on arrival to the hospital. Circular collapse progressed rapidly during contrast computed tomography (CT) scanning. CT images revealed exacerbation of the right lateral deviation of the heart that was earlier seen on X-ray imaging. Considering cardiac herniation based on CT findings, we immediately performed resuscitative thoracotomy and clamshell thoracotomy at the emergency department. Intraoperative findings showed a pericardial defect, and the heart had deviated to the right thoracic cavity. Immediate repositioning revealed a marked improvement in circulation. Full-thickness cardiac injury was observed in the anterior wall of the left ventricle; no active bleeding was observed. We performed temporary thoracic wall closure after cardiorraphy for damage control. After admission to the intensive care unit, he presented with respiratory failure associated with pulmonary contusion. Therefore, veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-V ECMO) was used from the 2nd to the 5th hospital day. After confirming no intra-thoracic events on the 6th hospital day, chest wall closure was performed. The patient subsequently developed heart failure and mitral regurgitation associated with papillary muscle rupture. On the 62nd hospital day, he underwent mitral annuloplasty at the cardiovascular surgery division; After rehabilitation till 152nd hospital day, he was discharged without any neurological abnormality. This was an extremely rare case with concomitant full-thickness myocardial injury, intracardiac injury, and cardiac herniation. Rapid resuscitative thoracotomy and damage control including V-V ECMO yielded good results. Retrospectively, cardiac herniation should have been suspected earlier basis this observation. Our report highlights that cardiac herniation should be considered in case of cardiac shadow aberrations in cases of blunt chest trauma, familiarity with condition and its characteristic imaging findings are critical for the doctor overseeing initial trauma treatment.

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A 25-year-old man was initially diagnosed with a giant mediastinal nonseminomatous germ cell tumor. Chemotherapy was administered and the tumor markers were normalized; however, the tumor grew in size (20 cm), invading the left brachiocephalic vein (BCV) and the superior vena cava (SVC). Bilateral transmanubrial approach with median sternotomy and bilateral clamshell thoracotomy was required for the complete resection of the giant tumor with the SVC reconstruction. Bilateral TMA provided the surgical field of view around the bilateral phrenic nerves and bilateral BCVs. Given the final pathological diagnosis of the mature teratoma, this was considered growing teratoma syndrome where surgery is the only treatment option.

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We report a case of a 53-year-old lady who was incidentally diagnosed to have giant anterior mediastinal mass while undergoing preoperative evaluation for another surgery. She came for surgery after 2 years when she became symptomatic. A large 6.7-lb (2800 g) tumor occupying both hemithoraces and engulfing heart was excised in its entirety through a clamshell thoracotomy under cardiopulmonary bypass standby. Histopathology revealed the final diagnosis as well as differentiated liposarcoma. She is now able to walk 2 km without any symptoms at the end of a 24-month follow-up.

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The clamshell thoracotomy is often used to access both hemithoraxes and the mediastinum simultaneously for cardiothoracic pathology, but this technique is rarely used for the excision of spinal tumors. We describe the use of a clamshell thoracotomy for en bloc excision of a 3-level upper thoracic chordoma in a 20-year-old patient. The lesion involved T2, T3, and T4, and it invaded both chest cavities and indented the mediastinum. After 2 biopsies to confirm the diagnosis, the patient underwent a posterior spinal fusion followed by bilateral clamshell thoracotomy for 3-level en bloc resection with simultaneous access to both chest cavities and the mediastinum. To demonstrate how the clamshell thoracotomy was used to facilitate the tumor resection, an operative video and illustrations are provided, which show in detail how the clamshell thoracotomy can be used to access both hemithoraxes and the mediastinum.

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This report describes the case of a 17-year-old man who developed mediastinal growing teratoma syndrome following two cycles of chemotherapy, after an initial diagnosis of primary mediastinal nonseminomatous germ cell tumor. The large, rapidly-growing mediastinal tumor was completely resected in conjunction with right pneumonectomy, using simultaneous clamshell thoracotomy and median sternotomy. The salvage surgery with perioperative management involved in mediastinal growing teratoma syndrome is presented here. KEY POINTS: Significant findings of the study The diagnosis and surgical management are challenging for patients with mediastinal growing teratoma syndrome. Nevertheless, with proper operative planning, favorable outcomes can be attained with complete resection despite the characteristic rapid growth and massive size of these neoplasms. What this study adds In spite of postoperative sternal dehiscence, we believe that a simultaneous clamshell thoracotomy with median sternotomy approach remains a viable option for an extremely large mediastinal growing teratoma, when tumor size prevents safe resection using other approaches due to limited visualization.

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The role of emergency thoracotomy (ET) in blunt trauma is still a matter of debate and in Europe only a small number of studies have been published. We report our experience about ET both in penetrating and blunt trauma, discussing indications, outcomes and proposing an algorithm for patient selection. We retrospectively analysed patients who underwent ET at Maggiore Hospital Trauma Center over two periods: from January 1st, 2010 to December 31st, 2012, and from January 1st, 2013 to May 31st, 2017. Demographic and clinical data, mechanism of injury, Injury Severity Score, site of injury, time of witnessed cardiac arrest, presence/absence of signs of life, length of stay were considered, as well as survival rate and neurological outcome. 27 ETs were performed: 21 after blunt trauma and 6 after penetrating trauma. Motor vehicle accident was the main mechanism of injury, followed by fall from height. The mean age was 40.5 years and the median Injury Severity Score was of 40. The most frequent injury was cardiac tamponade. The overall survival rate was 10% during the first period and 23.5% during the second period, after the adoption of a more liberal policy. No long-term neurological sequelae were reported. The outcomes of ET in trauma patient, either after penetrating or blunt trauma, are poor but not negligible. To date, only small series of ET from European trauma centres have been published, although larger series are available from USA and South Africa. However, in selected patients, all efforts must be made for the patient's survival; the possibility of organ donation should be taken into consideration as well.

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BACKGROUND: Liposarcoma is the single most common soft tissue sarcoma. Because mediastinal liposarcomas often grow rapidly and frequently recur locally despite adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy, they require complete excision. Therefore, the feasibility of achieving complete surgical excision must be carefully considered. We here report a case of a huge mediastinal liposarcoma resected via clamshell thoracotomy. CASE PRESENTATION: A 64-year-old man presented with dyspnea on effort. Cardiomegaly had been diagnosed 6 years previously, but had been left untreated. A computed tomography scan showed a huge (36 cm diameter) anterior mediastinal tumor expanding into the pleural cavities bilaterally. The tumor comprised mostly fatty tissue but contained two solid areas. Echo-guided needle biopsies were performed and a diagnosis of an atypical lipomatous tumor was established by pathological examination of the biopsy samples. Surgical resection was performed via a clamshell incision, enabling en bloc resection of this huge tumor. Although there was no invasion of surrounding organs, the left brachiocephalic vein was resected because it was circumferentially surrounded by tumor and could not be preserved. The tumor weighed 3500 g. Pathologic examination of the resected tumor resulted in a diagnosis of a biphasic tumor comprising dedifferentiated liposarcoma and non-adipocytic sarcoma with necrotic areas. The patient remains free of recurrent tumor 20 months postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Clamshell incision provides an excellent surgical field and can be performed safely in patients with huge mediastinal liposarcomas.

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AIMS: Selected patients in traumatic cardiac arrest may benefit from pre-hospital thoracotomy. Pre-hospital care physicians rarely have surgical training and the procedure is rarely performed in most European systems. Limited data exists to inform teaching and training for this procedure. We set out to run a pilot study to determine the time required to perform a thoracotomy and the a priori defined complication rate. METHODS: We adapted an existing system operating procedure requiring four instruments (Plaster-of-Paris shears, dressing scissors, non-toothed forceps, scalpel) for this study. We identified a convenience sample of surgically trained and non-surgically trained participants. All received a training package including a lecture, practical demonstration and cadaver experience. Time to perform the procedure, anatomical accuracy and a priori complication rates were assessed. RESULTS: The mean total time for the clamshell thoracotomy from thoracic incision to delivery of the heart was 167 s (02:47 min:sec). There was no statistical difference in the time to complete the procedure or complication rate among surgeons, non-surgeons and students. The complication rate dropped from 36% in the first attempt to 7% in the second attempt but this was not statistically significant. This is a pilot study and small numbers of participants arguably saw it underpowered to define differences between study groups. CONCLUSION: Clamshell thoracotomy can be taught using cadaver models. In this simulated environment, the procedure may be performed rapidly with minimum equipment.

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Case: A 64-year-old man was injured after falling from a height of 5 m and was transported to our institution. On presentation, his hemodynamic state was unstable, and both focused assessment with sonography for trauma and enhanced computed tomography imaging revealed massive left pleural effusion, but no pericardial effusion. He went into cardiopulmonary arrest just before surgery, so an urgent left anterolateral thoracotomy followed by open chest cardiac massage and aortic clamping were carried out. By performing an additional right anterior thoracotomy, a left pleuropericardial laceration and a perforation measuring 1 cm in diameter at the left ventricle were found. The patient's dynamic state stabilized following the restoration of hemostasis by suturing the rupture site. Outcome: The patient's postoperative course was favorable, and he was discharged after 20 days of hospitalization. Conclusion: Blunt cardiac and pericardial injury rarely causes massive hemothorax with no hemopericardium, resulting in hemorrhagic shock.

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When a sufficient field of view in unilateral thoracotomy cannot be obtained during hemostasis surgery for severe thoracic trauma, clamshell thoracotomy is often necessary to perform aortic cross-clamping in order to avoid cardiac arrest or to treat intrathoracic injury across the chest. Here we describe two successful cases of clamshell thoracotomy for blunt traumatic cardiac rupture. Case 1 was a 41-year-old male motorcyclist, injured in a collision with a truck, who was in a state of shock when transported to our emergency department (ED). Due to the finding of fluid accumulation around the spleen on FAST (focused assessment with sonography for trauma), he underwent emergency laparotomy with gauze packing after splenectomy as damage control surgery. Because of a prolonged state of shock due to extensive right hemothorax, right anterolateral thoracotomy was performed to locate the site of active bleeding in the right mediastinal pleura. However, imminent cardiac arrest necessitated clamshell thoracotomy, which revealed a 4-cm laceration on the right atrium and two lacerations on the upper lobe of the right lung, for which suture repair was performed. His postoperative course was uneventful and he was discharged on postinjury day 57 for rehabilitation. Case 2 was a 75-year-old female motorcyclist who was injured after hitting a curb and falling. She was in a state of shock due to severe right hemothorax when admitted to our ED and underwent anterolateral thoracotomy to treat active bleeding in the right mediastinal pleura. Clamshell thoracotomy was performed because cardiac arrest was imminent, and this was followed by suture repair of a 2-cm laceration identified on the left atrium. Her postoperative course was uneventful and she was transferred to another hospital on postinjury day 37 for rehabilitation. In both cases, Clamshell thoracotomy was performed successfully for blunt traumatic cardiac rupture and the postoperative course was good with no serious complications. Clamshell thoracotomy is an effective approach for trauma resuscitation, so surgeons should be familiar with its indications, surgical techniques, and timing.