Pseudo-pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle: a rare complication of acute myocardial infarction--a case report and literature review

Abstract

Rupture of the cardiac wall is usually a fatal complication of acute myocardial infarction within the first 2 weeks. However, in certain cases a ruptured ventricular wall is contained by overlying adherent pericardium called pseudoaneurysm, whereas a true aneurysm is one that is caused by scar formation resulting in thinning of the myocardium. The patients with pseudoaneurysm may survive until the aneurysm ruptures. In exceedingly rare instance, the rupture of the myocardium is not transmural but remains circumscribed within the ventricular wall itself, but in communication with the ventricular cavity. This finding is defined as pseudo-pseudoaneurysm. The authors report a case of postinfarction posterobasal pseudo-pseudoaneurysm along with review of the literature on the subject.