Petrou Emmanouil, Vartela Vasiliki, Kostopoulou Anna, Georgiadou Panagiota, Mastorakou Irene, Kogerakis Nektarios, Sfyrakis Petros, Athanassopoulos George, Karatasakis George
Emmanouil Petrou, Vasiliki Vartela, Anna Kostopoulou, Panagiota Georgiadou, George Athanassopoulos, George Karatasakis, Division of Cardiology, Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, GR-17674 Athens, Greece.
World J Clin Cases. 2014 Oct 16;2(10):581-6. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v2.i10.581.
Left ventricular wall rupture (LVWR) comprises a complication of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Acute LVWR is a fatal condition, unless the formation of a pseudoaneurysm occurs. Several risk factors have been described, predisposing to LVWR. High index of suspicion and imaging techniques, namely echocardiography and computed tomography, are the cornerstones of timely diagnosis of the condition. As LVWR usually leads to death, emergency surgery is the treatment of choice, resulting in significant reduction in mortality and providing favorable short-term outcomes and adequate prognosis during late follow-up. Herein, we present two patients who were diagnosed with LVWR following AMI, and subsequent pseudoaneurysm formation. In parallel, we review the aforementioned condition.