[False pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle after myocardial infarction. Recognition by transesophageal echocardiography].

Left ventricular pseudo-false aneurysm is caused by a discrete rupture of the myocardial wall which remains circumscribed within the wall itself, realising a cavity joined to the left ventricle by a narrow neck. It is an extremely rare complication of myocardial infarction. Two cases diagnosed in vivo by left ventriculography are reported. Their diagnosis and precise locations were confirmed by transoesophageal echocardiography. In the first case, the pseudo-false aneurysm was situated in the interventricular septum and, in the second, in the antero-lateral wall. The natural history of asymptomatic pseudo-false aneurysms is unknown. The advanced age of the patients and the possibility of regular follow-up by transoesophageal echocardiography were the main reasons for surgical abstention in these particular cases.