[Effectiveness of transesophageal echocardiography in diagnosing complete rupture of the papillary muscle after acute myocardial infarction].

We reviewed a case undergoing emergency surgery for acute post-infarction papillary muscle rupture. The patient was a 79-year-old woman transferred to our hospital with cardiogenic shock who required endotracheal intubation. The acute myocardial infarction diagnosis was based on the electrocardiographic findings. She had developed progressively worsening pulmonary edema. No heart murmur was detected. Transthoracic echocardiography demonstrated hyperdynamic cardiac motion and an intracardiac massive turbulent color Doppler signal, but neither mitral regurgitation nor the ruptured papillary muscle head was demonstrated. Her deteriorating condition precluded cardiac catheterization. We performed transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), which demonstrated massive mitral regurgitation and the ruptured anterior papillary muscle connected to normal chordae tendineae and anterior and commissural leaflets. During systole, the head of the ruptured papillary muscle moved like a whip in the left atrium. Emergency surgery was performed. Complete rupture of the anterior papillary muscle head was found, and the mitral valve was replaced with a porcine bioprosthesis (Mosaic #25). Postoperatively, she was weaned from intra-aortic balloon pumping after 2 days and recovered uneventfully. Postoperative coronary angiography demonstrated no significant coronary arterial stenosis. To make the diagnosis of post-infarction papillary muscle rupture, we recommend immediate TEE.