Rupture of the right ventricle in acute myocarditis.

Rupture of the heart occurs almost always as a result of myocardial infarction and then usually in the left ventricle. Less frequently, ruptures are caused by bacterial infection, formation of abscesses, and aneurysms (Hudson, 1965). The diagnosis of rupture of the heart in this case was made before necropsy, thereby warning the dissector to avoid injury which has been suggested to be the cause of previously reported cases of rupture of the right ventricle (Bowen, 1962). The present case report is the first, as far as we know, of a ruptured right ventricle due to diffuse myocarditis of suspected viral aetiology.