Cardiac thromboemboli complicating a stab wound to the heart

A 27-year-old man was noted to have neurologic deficit 4 days following cardiorrhaphy to repair a penetrating cardiac injury. Cerebral computed tomography scan showed multiple embolic infarcts and two-dimensional echocardiography revealed the source as thrombus in the left ventricle. Although this entity has been described following blunt chest trauma and cardiac contusion, it has not been noted in association with penetrating injury. Intracardiac thrombus with systemic emboli should be considered as a possible complication following cardiorrhaphy for penetrating trauma.