Perforation of the interventricular septum in a 71-year-old woman; successful repair nine days following acute myocardial infarction.

S ince the first case of surgical repair of perforation of the interventricular septum following myocardial infarction was described by Cooley et all in 1957, numerous additional cases have been reported in the literature.2-12 Only a small number of these cases have been operated on during the acute stage of myocardial infarction, and of these, most have not survived the immediate postoperative period. Patients above the age of 70 operated on for this complication have rarely been reported. The purpose of this report is to describe the case of a 71year-old woman who underwent successful repair of perforation of the interventricular septum while in shock and pulmonary edema, nine days following acute myocardial infarction.