Extensive facial damage caused by a blast injury arising from a 6 volt lead accumulator.
Low-voltage electrical injuries are relatively uncommon. Injury caused by flow of heavy current due to short-circuiting a low-voltage battery has not been described in the English literature. A 9-year-old boy connected two thin household electrical wires to the two terminals of a 6 volt (lead accumulator) battery and pressed the other two ends between his teeth. This resulted in a blast causing a compound comminuted fracture of the mandible and extensive tissue damage in the oral cavity. The low internal resistance of a lead accumulator (approximately 0.03 ohms) permits the flow of a heavy current (approximately 200 amps) when short-circuited. This instantaneously vaporises a minuscule portion of wire at approximately 2000 K resulting in a sudden rise of intraoral pressure to 30 kg cm-2 leading to tissue damage.
Post traumatic microstomia: A surgical challenge for repair, rehabilitation
Microstomia due to isolated orofacial injury arising from the explosion of cell phone battery is extremely rare. Such devastating injuries are generally associated with warfare. We recently encountered a case in an 18-year-old student, whose lower face was literally blown off in a cell battery blast injury. Initial resuscitation, debridement and primary repair were carried out in a local plastic surgery clinic. Six months later, he reported to us with gross microstomia; inability to eat solid foods and look after his oral hygiene. Secondary repair was undertaken to correct his deformity utilizing local soft tissues to achieve satisfactory mouth opening. Subsequently, prosthodontic rehabilitation was carried out by providing complete dentures to allow him resume near normal life.
Right coronary artery stenosis associated with tricuspid valve ring annuloplasty
A 70-year-old man with severe symptomatic functional mitral valve regurgitation underwent successful mitral valve repair combined with tricuspid valve ring annuloplasty. Pre-operative coronary angiography (CAG) showed no significant stenosis. One-and-a-half years later, the patient presented with an acute exacerbation of heart failure. Repeat CAG demonstrated tight stenosis in the right coronary artery (RCA) with arterial kinking that corresponded to the same point as the stenosis where the RCA is the closest to the tricuspid valve ring. The new lesion probably occurred as a consequence of the tricuspid valve ring annuloplasty.