Subacute left ventricle free wall rupture after acute myocardial infarction: awareness of the clinical signs and early use of echocardiography may be life-saving.

ABSTRACT: Left ventricular free wall rupture (LVFWR) is a fearful complication of acute myocardial infarction in which a swift diagnosis and emergency surgery can be crucial for successful treatment. Because a significant number of cases occur subacutely, clinicians should be aware of the risk factors, clinical features and diagnostic criteria of this complication. We report the case of a 69 year-old man in whom a subacute left ventricular free wall rupture (LVFWR) was diagnosed 7 days after an inferior myocardial infarction with late reperfusion therapy. An asymptomatic 3 to 5 mm saddle-shaped ST-segment elevation in anterior and lateral leads, detected on a routine ECG, led to an urgent bedside echocardiogram which showed basal inferior-wall akinesis, a small echodense pericardial effusion and a c

SUBMITTER: Raposo L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1664587 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature