[Successful surgical management of postinfarction left ventricular free wall rupture in a case of systemic lupus erythematosus].

A 58-year-old woman of postinfarction left ventricular free wall rupture (LVFWR) was surgically treated with good results. She had been treated with Prednisolon for 15 years with the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus. The rupture was noted six hours after the onset of myocardial infarction and she was taken to the emergent surgical intervention. During the operation, active bleeding was found in the higher anterior wall of the left ventricle and a Dacron graft was sutured to cover the infarcted area. The postoperative course was uneventful. This report seemed to be the first one of the successful surgical management of LVFWR in the course of the treatment for SLE in the literature.