Left ventricular free wall rupture can be a catastrophic problem. Although small lacerations can be managed with various techniques of primary closure, larger and more complex defects can be difficult to treat. We present and discuss 2 cases of chronic, complex ventricular pseudoaneurysms managed successfully with long-term mechanical support.

Dobutamine stress echocardiography is associated with a very low rate of serious complications, lower than 0.5% (death, infarction or sustained ventricular tachycardia). We report the case of a 75 year-old female patient that suffered a fatal left ventricular free wall rupture during a dobutamine stress echocardiography after acute myocardial infarction.

A 68-year-old man was admitted with continuous chest pain for >8 hours. The initial twelve-lead electrocardiogram (Picture 1) suggested an ongoing broad anterior myocardial infarction (MI). He suddenly began to suffer from severe hypotension with massive pericardial effusion (Picture 2A) before any emergent cardiac intervention could be performed and he died despite undergoing cardiopulmonary r...

Left ventricular free wall rupture (LVFWR) is one of the most lethal complications following myocardial infarction. It accounts for approximately 12% to 21% of all in-hospital deaths following myocardial infarction. The majority of patients die shortly after LVFWR from instantaneous pericardial tamponade and hemodynamic collapse. However, up to one-third of cases are subacute in nature, allowin...

DESCRIPTION A 69-year-old man was seen among outpatients after an episode of chest pain. He was pain-free and haemodynamically stable. His electrocardiogram was normal, but a pan-systolic murmur was noted on examination. He was referred for outpatient exercise treadmill testing and transthoracic echocardiography. The echocardiogram demonstrated an akinetic basal posterior wall of the left ventr...