MITRAL REGURGITATION AS A LATE SEQUELA OF PENETRATING CARDIAC TRAUMA

A case of mitral regurgitation due to a stab wound to the heart in a n ine-year-old boy is presented. The initial injury did not require oper ative intervention and was treated with closed tube thoracostomy alone . After six years and the development of progressive mitral insufficie ncy, a two-centimeter defect in the anterior leaflet of the mitral val ve was repaired with a pericardial patch. He had an uneventful recover y and no regurgitation is present five years following the repair.