After running, the chest hurts violently. Xiao Chen (pseudonym), a 19-year-old boy, did not expect that it was because a sewing needle poked into his heart...
At 4 am on March 7, an ambulance pulled Xiao Chen from Shaoxing to the emergency room of Run Run Run Run Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine.
"The chest CT performed by the local hospital showed that there was a needle in his heart, and it was broken in two." said Li Jiwen, the chief physician of cardiac surgery on duty that day.
Xiao Chen went to work in Shaoxing from other provinces. According to him, he has the habit of running at night. "I usually run two laps, but I ran three laps that night. After the run, my chest hurts so much that I can't stand it." Examination by the local hospital After the results came out, Xiao Chen was quickly referred.
Why is there a sewing needle in the heart?
According to Xiao Chen's recollection, in December last year, he was in his hometown, sitting on the bed to sew clothes. After sewing, he packed up his things. He didn't find any sewing needles. He didn't pay attention and just lay down and went to sleep.
About a month or two after that, he started coughing intermittently, and occasionally felt chest tightness and pain, but he didn't care.
Until after this run, severe chest pain occurred.
"His chest CT at the local hospital showed that half of the sewing needle was still on the surface of the right heart, but when we checked again at our hospital, the half of the needle had already reached the muscle layer of the right ventricle, and the other half was in the chest muscle." Li Jiwen said , The situation at that time was still relatively urgent, "Because the heart is beating, the needle will also move along with it. Once it falls into the heart cavity, it will be more troublesome."
Li Jiwen and her colleagues immediately decided to perform thoracotomy for Xiao Chen. "At that time, CT and bedside echocardiography indicated that there was blood in the pericardium, and the site where the needle was inserted into the heart was very close to the chest wall. Considering that there was not enough space for the endoscope, the field of vision might be bleeding. It is necessary to quickly withdraw the needle to stop the bleeding and repair the heart break, so only open thoracotomy can be performed.”
During the operation, Li Jiwen found that there were three or four needle holes in Xiao Chen's heart. It seemed that after the needle had reached the heart, he frantically "tested" and finally pierced it.
In addition, Xiao Chen's chest also has pinholes and redness.
"For so long, he didn't seem to find it himself." Combining Xiao Chen's self-report, Li Jiwen speculated that after the sewing needle was pierced into Xiao Chen's chest, it wandered in the muscle, and the patient usually likes to exercise. eventually into the heart.
Fortunately, Xiao Chen has a strong physique and developed chest muscles, which is why the needle did not enter the heart until after so long, otherwise the consequences may be more serious.
More than an hour later, the operation was successfully completed, and the two severed needles were quickly removed by medical staff.
"Because of the inflammatory reaction, the patient also developed pericarditis, pneumonia, etc., so he was transferred to the intensive care unit after the operation and needed further treatment." Li Jiwen said that at present, Xiao Chen's condition is basically stable, and it should be soon. can be cured.