Cardiac coup and contrecoup following a suicide attempt

Abstract

A 48-year-old man was admitted as a Level 1 trauma after attempting suicide by jumping 28 m into a river. He was haemodynamically stable with unremarkable physical examination except for bilateral periorbital bruising. Trauma-protocol CT demonstrated an isolated T5 vertebral fracture.\n\nDespite being pain free, serial ECGs showed dynamic anterior ST-elevation. Review of the trauma CT identified a subtle perfusion defect in the left anterior descending artery (LAD) territory in keeping with a recent infarct, but motion artefact made assessment of the aortic root challenging. In view these findings, …