Case report: pericardial adhesions from a previous coronary artery bypass surgery contain a left ventricular free wall rupture after an acute myocardial infarction to form a pseudoaneurysm.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Fatal mechanical complications of acute myocardial infarctions include free wall rupture and ventricular septal rupture. If pericardial adhesions wall off a free wall rupture, it may lead to formation of pseudoaneurysms that are characterized by a narrow mouth. Even though pseudoaneurysms are common after myocardial infarctions, they may also occur following surgery, trauma, and infections rarely.

Case summary

We present a case of a 62-year-old man who developed a left ventricular pseudoaneurysm 2 weeks after thrombolysis for an acute inferolateral myocardial infarction. Multiple non-invasive imaging modalities demonstrated the anatomy, regional and global ventricular function, distortion of mitral annulus by the eccentric large aneurysm. Pericardial scars after a previous coronary bypass surgery contained this left ventricular free wall rupture and helped in providing a safe window period for corrective surgery.

Discussion

While left ventricular pseudoaneurysms that develop following myocardial infarctions warrant emergency surgery due to the high impending chances of rupture and tamponade, previous surgical pericardial adhesions guarded against an imminent collapse. Multimodality imaging of the aneurysm helped in planning the surgical strategy.

SUBMITTER: Singh AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6177030 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature