Diagnosis: Cardiac Concussion
• The pathophysiology of commotio cordis has been experimentally produced using wooden balls striking the chest of baby pigs. It was found that if the impact occurred at a very specific, narrow part of the cardiac cycle (15 msec before the peak of the T wave), ventricular fibrillation resulted. These findings explain why not every chest impact is fatal. The impact must occur at a very narrow part of the cardiac cycle for the fatal arrhythmia to occur.
