Fatal Left Ventricular Free Wall Rupture Complicating Acute Myopericarditis.

This is a case of a 59-year-old man presenting with myopericarditis. Over a 2-week period, he developed progressive symptoms and worsening pericardial effusion, leading to cardiac tamponade. Pericardiocentesis revealed hemopericardium, and multidetector computed tomography angiography showed left ventricular free wall rupture. The patient collapsed abruptly, and autopsy confirmed the findings.

Intraprocedural left ventricular free wall rupture diagnosed by left ventriculogram in a patient with infero-posterior myocardial infarction and severe aortic stenosis.

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular wall rupture remains a major lethal complication of acute myocardial infarction and hypertension is a well-known predisposing factor of cardiac rupture after myocardial infarction. CASE PRESENTATION: An 87-year-old man was admitted to our hospital, diagnosed as acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The echocardiogram showed 0.67-cm(2) aortic valve, consistent with severe aortic stenosis (AS). A coronary angiography showed a chronic occlusion of the proximal left circumflex artery and a 99 % stenosis and thrombus in the mid right coronary artery. During percutaneous angioplasty of the latter, transient hypotension and bradycardia developed at the time of balloon inflation, and low doses of noradrenaline and etilefrine were intravenously administered as needed. The patient suddenly lost consciousness and developed electro-mechanical dissociation. Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation followed by insertion of an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) and percutaneous cardiopulmonary support were initiated. The echocardiogram revealed moderate pericardial effusion, though the site of free wall rupture was not distinctly visible. A left ventriculogram clearly showed an infero-posterior apical wall rupture. Surgical treatment was withheld because of the interim development of brain death. CONCLUSIONS: In this patient, who presented with severe AS, the administration of catecholamine to stabilize the blood pressure probably increased the intraventricular pressures considerably despite apparently normal measurements of the central aortic pressure. IABP, temporary pacemaker, or both are recommended instead of intravenous catecholamines for patients with AMI complicated with significant AS to stabilize hemodynamic function during angioplasty.

The diagnosis and treatment of acute myocardial infarction complicated with left ventricular wall rupture:a report of three cases / 天津医药

Objective To investigate the diagnosis and treatment in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and complicated left ventricular wall rupture (LVWR). Methods A retrospective analysis was made on the clinical features, diagnosis and successful treatment in three AMI patients with LVWR from December 2015 to April 2016. Results Three cases were included in this study. Case 1, the mesh like cardiac rupture after AMI was diagnosed by ultrasonic Doppler. Emergency revascularization was performed due to the combined cardiac shock, and the infarct related artery was opened. The vasoactive drugs were used after revascularization to reduce ventricular pressure load and volume load in the haemodynamic monitoring, and anticoagulation, antiplatelet agents were less used or discontinued to promote local thrombus healing of ventricular rupture. Case 2 was a recurrent myocardial infarction patient. LVWR was diagnosed by ultrasonic Doppler one day after emergency operation. The ruptured ventricular wall was encapsulated by thrombus. The drug therapy was effective in hemodynamic monitoring. LVWR was further confirmed by cardiac CT after clinical stabilization. Case 3 was diagnosed LVWR by ultrasonic Doppler four days after AMI. Because the ruptured ventricular wall was limited by incompletely organized thrombus, and the haemodynamic condition was stable, selective surgical repair of rupture after coronary angiography was performed. Conclusion The effective drug therapy combined with percutaneous coronary intervention and surgical repair can reduce the risk of death in patients with LVWR after AMI.