Historical observation on commotio cordis

Commotio cordis (Latin for "disturbance of the heart") is a circumstance in which blunt, nonpenetrating, and often innocent-appearing blows to the chest produce ventricular fibrillation and sudden death, in the absence of structural damage to the heart, ribs, or sternum. ^1-4 Not entirely a new phenomenon, commotio cordis is traceable back for well over 100 years. ^5,6 Possibly first described in 1763 and again in the 1870s, this phenomenon was subjected to extensive experimental investigation in the early 1930s. ^5,6 However, commotio cordis only achieved widespread visibility in the physician and lay communities over the last 10 years, ¹ through a series of reports comprehensively describing its clinical profile and underlying mechanisms with a contemporary experimental model. ^1-4,7-10.