A 77-year-old man, with a recent history of an acute inferior myocardial infarction, was referred to our hospital with echocardiographic and clinical signs of left ventricular free wall rupture (LVFWR). The intraoperative finding demonstrated a huge double LVFWR. The inferoposterior wall was dramatically destroyed without any possibility to repair.

Left ventricular free wall rupture (LVFWR) is a grave complication of acute myocardial infarction (MI). We report a case of a 73-year-old male who developed LVFWR five days after a transmural MI. The diagnosis was confirmed with echocardiography, which showed a large pericardial effusion with a clot in the pericardial sac. This case emphasizes that a high index of clinical suspicion for the acu...

INTRODUCTION Left ventricular free wall rupture (LVFWR) is a frequent cause of death after acute myocardial infarction, and its repair remains a surgical challenge. CASE PRESENTATION TachoSil(®) is a ready-to-use equine collagen patch which has been successfully used for hemostasis in cardiovascular surgery. However, a limited number of studies have reported its application for LVFWR repair. ...

Patient 75, years-old, with free wall rupture of the right ventricle, corrected with prolene 3.0 points anchored in bovine pericardium patch, promoting the closure of the rupture. The patient was discharged on the 59th day after surgery in good clinical ans laboratorial conditions.

Subacute rupture of the left ventricular free wall is a complication that occurs during the acute phase of a myocardial infarction. The subacute presentation makes surgical management possible. However, it is not known whether either pericardial manipulation or the use of pericardial patches influences left ventricular function over the medium term. Our aim was to monitor changes in left ventri...

INTRODUCTION Double heart rupture is a rare complication of acute myocardial infarction with high mortality. CASE REPORT We presented a 67-year-old female patient with symptoms and signs of myocardial infarction, diagnosed with echocardiography, rupture of the septum, the presence of a thrombus and a small pericardial effusion. Soon after admission the patient died. Autopsy revealed tamponade...

A 78-year-old woman with diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the anteroseptal area fell into cardiogenic shock suddenly just before starting percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Echocardiography showed left ventricular free wall rupture, then an emergent operation was performed by sutureless patch repair using collagen fleece with fibrinogen-based impregnation. Eight days lat...

Our experience with the Sapien trans-apical aortic valve (Edwards Lifesciences Inc., Irvine, CA, USA) has been straightforward without per-procedural mortality except in 1/16 consecutive cases who developed non-apical haemorrhage early after valve implantation. We describe the case of an 84-year-old female carrying a very high operative risk (logistic EuroScore of 44%), who underwent a trans-ap...

From the Department of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Mason is now in El Macero, California. Dr. Roberts is now with the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. Corresponding author: Dean T. Mason, MD, 44725 Country Club Drive, El Macero, California 95618. Nonpenetrating trauma to the chest often results in injury to ...