Occult Penetrating Trauma: A STEMI Mimic Hiding in Plain Sight.

Authors

Xiaoling He, Yajie Li, Weigang Luo, Hongwei Dang

Published in

JACC. Case reports. Pages 110770. Oct 16, 2026. Epub Oct 16, 2026.

Abstract

We report a case of acute pericarditis caused by an occult penetrating foreign body manifesting as an ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction mimic.
The patient initially presented with chest pain, increased cardiac troponin I, and ST-segment elevation. Following emergency intravenous thrombolysis and urgent coronary angiography, an alternative etiology was suspected. Subsequent verification of the medical history and imaging examinations ultimately identified the culprit: a nail. The patient received prompt treatment, and the pericardial foreign body was successfully extracted.
Acute pericarditis and acute myocardial infarction are common causes of acute chest pain. Diagnostic confusion and treatment delays may arise due to overlapping symptoms, elevation of cardiac biomarkers, ST-segment elevation, cognitive bias, and incomplete history taking.
This case highlights the value of bedside echocardiography combined with chest radiography. In patients with suspected ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, it is crucial to differentiate acute coronary occlusion from other causes, especially foreign body-induced pericarditis.

PMID:
42886121
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 16 Oct 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.