Bruce H. Knox
Independent Scholar, Auckland, New Zealand
Publications
-
Review Article
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder After Cardiac Tamponade and Emergency Sternotomy: A First-Person Account in Prose and Musical Compositions of Autonomic Injury, Medical Trauma, and the Long Arc of Recovery
Author(s): Bruce H. Knox*
Background: Life-threatening medical events increasingly are recognised not only as physiological crises but as existential ruptures. Post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may follow myocardial infarction, intensive care admission, or emergency surgery; yet PTSD arising from cardiac procedural catastrophe remains under-examined within cardiology and surgical literature. Case Narrative: This article presents a first-person account of PTSD following catheter ablation for left ventricular outflow tract premature ventricular contractions complicated by acute cardiac tamponade and emergency sternotomy (15 October 2021). Psychological symptoms emerged gradually and evolved alongside persistent autonomic dysfunction, including orthostatic hypotension, chronotropic impairment, gastrointestinal dysmotility, and reduced stress tolerance. Over four ye.. Read More»