Penetrating heart injuries present high mortality rates. Increasing rates of
urban violence have contributed to a significant rise in the number of heart
injuries by firearm projectiles. Such injuries are associated with the highest
mortality rates among penetrating cardiac injuries and may involve one or more
cardiac chambers. We present the case of a police officer who, in an approach to
five robbers, suffered a transfixed cardiac injury by firearm with the
projectile having been lodged inside the right ventricle. This patient was
successfully operated, 65 days after the injury, at our institution.