Abstract
Traumatic coronary artery dissection is an extremely uncommon cause of myocardial
infarction. We report a case of spontaneous coronary artery dissection in an 18-year-old
previously healthy male caused by myocardial contusion. He was admitted to the hospital
with a history of chest trauma and fracture of the radius and ulna bilaterally resulting
from a motorcycle accident. The electrocardiograms, elevated creatine kinase, and
cardiac troponins revealed acute anterior myocardial infarction. The transthoracic
echocardiogram showed significant segmental wall motion abnormalities and moderate
left ventricular systolic dysfunction. The coronary angiogram showed a traumatic dissection
involving the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery. He underwent a dobutamine
echocardiography “viability study” that revealed significant viable myocardium involving
50% of the left anterior descending coronary artery territory. He was treated by primary
stent implantation (Cypher and regular stents) with an excellent result.
