[Penetrating knife injury to the heart treated with emergency department thoracotomy--case report].

Penetrating cardiac injuries usually result in an excessive bleeding and a cardiac tamponade with a very high mortality. If patients reach hospital alive, or within 15 minutes after no signs of life are found, an emergency department thoracotomy (EDT) can be indicated. However, the indications and outcome of this procedure have been debated.

Decreasing case fatality in myocardial infarction is explained by improved medical treatment.

Objective: Treatment of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has changed significantly over the past two decades. We investigated the effect of these changes on one-year mortality.

Methods And Results: All hospital admissions for STEMI in Reykjavik, Iceland, during the calendar years of 1986, 1996 and 2006 were studied.