Trauma in general is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and causes more loss of productive years than ischemic heart disease and malignancy together. Cardiothoracic trauma occurs in 60% of multitrauma patients and is 2-3 times more common than intra-abdominal visceral injuries. It constitutes 25% of traumatic deaths and contributes significantly to at least another 25% of these fatalities. Though only about 15% of chest trauma requires operative intervention, a considerable number of preventable deaths occur due to inadequate or delayed treatment of otherwise an easily remediable injury. The aim of this study was to describe rare but serious and sometimes fatal entities in patients with cardiothoracic trauma sustained in two Scandinavian countries, and to determine the outcome.