Objective: Myocardial contusion can result from blunt thoracic trauma and is commonly suspected in deceleration injuries (after a traffic accident or a fall from great height etc.). Unfortunately, traumatic heart disease is frequently overlooked and the diagnosis ofmyocardial contusion is often unrecognized. The diagnosis of cardiac injury in patients with blunt thoracic trauma is controversial. Non-invasive tests including ECG, cardiac enzymes, radionuclide studies and echocardiography (transthoracic echocardiography – TTE and especially transaesophageal echocardiography TEE) can be used.Many articles concerning methods of diagnosis of heart contusion were published recently. They brought no clear conclusions in terms of specificity and importance of these methods. Design: retrospective study. Setting: ICU, Traumacentrum, Dep. of Forensic Medicine, Masaryk Hospital, Ústí nad Labem. Materials and methods: Retrospective study of 102 patients with blunts chest injury. Results:Myocardial contusion waspresented in 11.6%of our group.We observed the following incidence of positive findings in the patients with myocardial contusion: 80% (CK-MB/CK), 86% (troponin I), 82% (ECG), 72% (transthoracic echocardiography – TTE). Conclusion: The use of CK, CK-MB is useless for diagnosis of cardiac contusion. The most specific results were obtained by the use of troponin I. It is necessary to combine several diagnostic methods.

        Key words: blunt thoracic trauma – cardiac contusion – troponins