Thrombosed left ventricular pseudoaneurysm following myocardial infarction: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Pseudoaneurysm of inferior wall of the left ventricle is an uncommon complication of myocardial infarction with high mortality. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 63-year-old Tunisian man, diagnosed with a thrombosed left ventricular pseudoaneurysm and a pericardial effusion after 1 week of angina. CONCLUSIONS: Left ventricular pseudoaneurysm is a serious complication of myocardial infarction that has atypical presentations. Diagnosis is generally established by transthoracic echocardiography but confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging. Urgent surgery is the treatment choice given the risk of embolization and rupture.

Atrio-ventricular block on Wolff Parkinson White's syndrome: a rare association.

Complete atrioventricular block (AV block) associated with an accessory pathway is a rare phenomenon. We report the case of a third degree AV block paired with a Wolff Parkinson White (WPW) syndrome in a 91-year-old patient. The electrocardiogram (ECG) on admission showed a Mobitz type II AV block alternating with a third degree block on a wide-QRS ventricular rhythm beating at 35 cycles per minute. The patient urgently underwent the implantation of a single-lead pacemaker. The post-implantation ECG revealed a Kent accessory pathway on the left posteroseptal site. The existence of a complete AV block in the presence of an accessory pathway implies a more or less permanent blockage of atrial depolarization, both through the normal conduction tissue and the accessory pathway.

[Sudden cardiac death of rhythmic origin in athletes: literature review]. / La mort subite d'origine rythmique chez le sportif: revue de la littérature.

The sudden death in athletes is, in the vast majority of cases, related to ventricular fibrillation, often in a subject with unknown cardiovascular abnormality; this dramatic event has a significant impact on society and the medical profession. We conducted through a literature review an analysis of data on sudden cardiac death of rhythmic origin in athletes; sudden death may be cardiovascular in 95.3% of cases and related to ventricular arrhythmia in 88% cases. The main causes are: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, congenital anomalies of coronary arteries, and arhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia for athletes under 35 years, and atherosclerosis beyond 35 years. Prevention is based on three main areas: the medical assessment and screening for cardiovascular disease; the chain of survival; the education of the athlete and the public. All these measures should improve significantly the survival prognosis of patients suffering from these accidents.