AIM To analyze the results of surgical treatment of left ventricular free wall rupture after acute myocardial infarct in a case series. METHOD From 1984 to 2001, 25 patients (10 women and 15 men) were surgically treated in our Center for left ventricular free wall rupture after acute myocardial infarction. Their mean age was 62 years (range, 42-80). Cardiac symptoms (chest pain and/or dyspnea...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the meanings of heart disease experience in patients undergoing rehabilitation post-coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. METHODS Ethnographic study carried out between 2003 and 2005 in the city Goiânia, Central-West Brazil. Direct observation and in-depth interviews were conducted in 11 patients undergoing rehabilitation post- coronary artery bypass grafting surgery....

BACKGROUND Pseudoaneurysms are rare complications of myocardial infarction with propensity for rupture. There is still a challenge with which diagnostic imaging we performed a final diagnosis of pseudoaneurysm and differentiate it from true aneurysm what is clinically important due to the different treatment. CASE REPORT We presented the unusual case of a 56-year-old man with signs of decompe...

A blowout cardiac rupture is sudden and dramatic. The most appropriate surgical repair remains controversial. We report our experience with blowout rupture treated by sutureless technique. The two cases were males aged 58 and 79 years respectively. Echocardiography confirmed the diagnosis of cardiac rupture. Resuscitation was continued in the operating suite, and the myocardial tear and necroti...

A new clinical entity is described in which free aortic regurgitation from congenital aortic valve disease caused rupture of the chordae to the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve in 7 men aged 45 to 63 years (mean 52 years); 2 of the patients also had rupture of chordae to the posterior leaflet. Comparing these patients with those with ruptured mitral chordae in association with rheumatic he...

BACKGROUND Subclinical episodes of plaque disruption followed by healing are considered a mechanism of increased plaque burden. Detailed pathological studies of healed ruptures, however, are lacking. METHODS AND RESULTS We identified acute and healed ruptures from 142 men who died of sudden coronary death and performed morphometric measurements of plaque burden, luminal stenosis, and smooth m...

BACKGROUND To address the lack of information about the size of ruptures associated with chronic dissection in the descending and thoracoabdominal aorta, we evaluated the natural history of this pathology. METHODS AND RESULTS We analyzed data from 571 patients (mean age, 69.4±11.6 years) with unrepaired chronic aortic dissection in the descending or thoracoabdominal aorta with a maximal aorti...

The natural peptide N-Acetyl-Seryl-Aspartyl-Lysyl-Proline (Ac-SDKP) decreases inflammation in chronic diseases such as hypertension and heart failure. However, Ac-SDKP effects on acute inflammatory responses during myocardial infarction (MI) are unknown. During the first 72 hours post-MI, neutrophils, M1 macrophages (pro-inflammatory), and M2 macrophages (pro-resolution) and release of myeloper...

and Infarction To the Editor: In the October 24, 2000, issue of Circulation, Ojio et al1 reported 20 cases of acute myocardial infarction in which the patients had had angiograms shortly before acute myocardial infarction. They found evidence of plaque rupture/thrombi in 60% of cases at least 3 days before infarction. Because one half of the patients developed stable angina within a month befor...