[Ventricular septal perforation following acute myocardial infarction in an 85-year-old woman].

An 85-year-old woman who experienced sudden severe chest and back pains was admitted to our hospital. On admission a pansystolic murmur was audible and the ECG showed an acute antero-septal myocardial infarction. Right heart catheterization revealed increased oxygen from the right atrium to the right ventricle, leading to the diagnosis of ventricular septal perforation (VSP). Hemodynamics of the patient were stabilized using only a low dosage of dopamine. However the heart weakened progressively, an operation was performed on the 13th day after the onset of the perforation. The post-operative course was uneventful. She is the oldest patient with VSP which has been successfully operated in Japan.