[Surgical treatment of postinfarction left ventricular free wall rupture--experience of 12 cases including 2 successful repairs of acute (blow out) rupture]

Abstract

Left ventricular free wall rupture (LVFWR) complicating myocardial infarction is still a lethal complication. Although there have been reports of successful repair of LVFWR, most of them were of subacute type in which main symptom was cardiac tamponade and the surgical repair was undertaken several hours after the onset of rupture. Between March, 1984 and June, 1987. We treated 12 cases of LVFWR surgically, thoracotomy and open drainage in 2 cases, thoracotomy and direct closure of rupture in 8 cases, median sternotomy and patch closure of rupture in 2 cases. We used cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) only in 3 cases, because most of the cases except two developed electromechanical dissociation abruptly, requiring an emergency thoracotomy and there was no time for establishing CPB. In the cases of electromechanical dissociation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and an emergency thoracotomy were performed simultaneously. There were three early survivors (greater than 30 days) by emergency thoracotomy and direct closure of rupture and one survivor (double rupture case) by patch closure on CPB. We believe that acute type of LVFWR in which initial symptom is electromechanical dissociation without any preceding symptoms can be rescued by emergency thoracotomy and direct closure of rupture with no aid of CPB if rupture is a small tear of anterior or lateral left ventricle. For this purpose, prompt diagnosis is mandatory and this is possible by two dimensional echocardiogram even during cardiopulmonary resuscitation.