Usefulness of color Doppler in the diagnosis of ventricular septal rupture after myocardial infarction

Ten consecutive patients with ventricular septal rupture complicating acute myocardial infarction were studied by means of Doppler echocardiography (including two-dimensional, conventional and color Doppler techniques) and bedside right heart catheterization using a Swan-Ganz catheter. One patient died before an operation could be performed. Seven critically ill patients underwent emergency cardiac surgery without preoperative cardiac catheterization, while in two patients it was also possible to undertake coronary angiography before surgery. Two-dimensional echocardiography diagnosed post-infarction ventricular septal rupture in 6 out of 10 patients. Color Doppler revealed the presence and the location of septal rupture in all 10 patients. The color Doppler diagnosis was confirmed either by surgery or necropsy. The estimates of pulmonary artery pressure, obtained by color Doppler-guided continuous wave Doppler beam, were very close to those measured by simultaneous right heart catheterization. In 3 patients, patch leakage occurred 3 days, 15 days and 1 year after the operation. Two-dimensional echocardiography revealed the patch leakage in only one of 3 patients while its location was visualized by color Doppler in all 3 patients. In one patient the color Doppler diagnosis was confirmed at necropsy. In the remaining 2 patients, a small left-to-right shunt was demonstrated by radionuclide studies. Color Doppler echocardiography is a highly sensitive and rapid technique in the diagnosis of postinfarction ventricular septal rupture. In critically ill patients it offers relevant information and may obviate the need for any invasive preoperate investigation.     

Septal rupture in elderly patients. Apropos of 2 cases treated surgically in the acute phase of myocardial infarction

Two cases of interventricular septal rupture (VSR) in elderly patients (71 and 74 years) occurring at the 5th and 12th day of primary postero-inferior myocardial infarction, were reported. The diagnosis was made at 2D echocardiography and confirmed at catheterisation with coronary angiography. Good surgical results were obtained after operation 72 and 12 hours after VSR (9th and 12th infarct days, respectively): the first patient had a good outcome with a 2 year follow-up, but the second patient died in the 55th postoperative day, of renal failure. The authors underline the value of 2D echo in the management of acute myocardial infarction and in the detection of VSR. In addition, the advances in intensive care and surgical techniques allow early and complete cure of cardiac lesions with a low hospital mortality and significant functional improvement, even in the elderly patient.     

Abnormal mitral valve motion associated with ventricular septal defect following acute myocardial infarction.

It is often difficult to make the clinical distinction between acute mitral regurgitation caused by papillary muscle dysfunction or rupture and ventricular septal defect complicating an acute myocardial infarction. A case of a patient with rapidly progressive congestive heart failure and a loud murmur is presented. Echocardiography strongly suggested the presence of a flail posterior mitral leaflet. However, the patient was subsequently found to have rupture of the interventricular septum. This diagnosis was made with bedside right heart catheterization and was later confirmed by left ventriculography and direct inspection at the time of surgery. The mitral valve apparatus was completely normal. Thus this case demonstrates the apparent lack of specificity of the accepted echocardiographic criteria for flail mitral leaflet and acutely ruptured interventricular septum, and the potential necessity of cardiac catheterization to distinguish between these entities.     

Postinfarction ventricular septal defect: patch repair with infarct exclusion

Postinfarction rupture of the interventricular septum is usually fatal without prompt surgical intervention. Repair of postinfarction ventricular septal rupture by an endocardial patch technique with infarct exclusion is associated with less morbidity and mortality. The results of this repair in 22 consecutive patients were analyzed retrospectively. After myocardial infarction, 16 patients were operated on within 7 days, 3 at 8-21 days, and 3 at 3-6 weeks. 2D-echocardiography, color Doppler studies and coronary angiography were performed in all patients prior to surgery. The mean age of the patients was 57.46 +/- 5.31 years and 20 were male; 15 were in cardiogenic shock or congestive heart failure at the time of operation. There were 5 (22.7%) operative deaths. Postoperative complications included low cardiac output, renal failure and respiratory failure. Preoperative cardiogenic shock, severe right ventricular dysfunction, residual ventricular septal defect, and preoperative renal failure were predictors of operative mortality. There were 2 late deaths. A rapid diagnosis, aggressive medical management and prompt surgical intervention are required to optimize survival and recovery in patients who present with septal rupture complicating myocardial infarction.     

Doppler echocardiographic features of ventricular septal rupture in myocardial infarction

Doppler echocardiography was used to evaluate the features of interventricular septal rupture in six patients with acute myocardial infarction and to substantiate the hemodynamic data and morphologic findings at surgery or autopsy. Although echocardiographic visualization of the septal rupture was obtained in only two of the six patients, unusual Doppler flow signals were detected in the apical portion of the right ventricle in all six patients. Five patients had unusual flow signals during both systole and diastole; one had such signals only during systole. The location of these unusual flow signals coincided with the site of septal rupture confirmed at surgery or autopsy. The pattern of the flow signals in one cardiac cycle was very similar to that of the pressure difference between the left and right ventricular cavities. These findings indicate that the unusual flow signals represent the left to right shunt flows resulting from septal rupture. In conclusion, Doppler echocardiography may be a very useful tool for diagnosing interventricular septal rupture easily and noninvasively in patients with acute myocardial infarction.     

Post-infarct rupture of the interventricular septum. 2-dimensional, continuous Doppler, pulsed and color-coded echocardiographic evaluation

Rupture of the interventricular septum is an infrequent but always serious complication of acute myocardial infarction. It requires accurate timely diagnosis to decide the proper treatment and eventual surgical intervention. Echo-color-Doppler-cardiography appears to have such diagnostic capacities. In a total of 403 pts, with acute myocardial infarction we found 7 pts (1.7%) with suspected interventricular septum rupture; 5 with infero-posterior infarction and 2 with an anterior one. In 4 pts shock and death occurred rapidly, 2 pts were submitted to angiography and then to surgery with a good outcome, 1 pt died immediately after surgical repair. Echocardiographic findings were: 1) by 2-D (7 pts), direct visualization of septal rupture in 5/7, all with infero-posterior infarctions; 2) by pulsed wave Doppler (5 pts), detection of a typical systolic turbulence on the right septum in 5/5 pts, 3 with infero-posterior myocardial infarction, 2 with an anterior one; 3) by color Doppler (3 pts), detection of a "mosaic" color-jet expanding into the right ventricle in 3/3 pts, 2 with an anterior and 1 with an infero-posterior myocardial infarction. This technique immediately located two small ruptures which had not been easily detected by pulsed Doppler alone. In conclusion, echocolordopplercardiography appears to be a reliable method for the detection of ventricular septal rupture after myocardial infarction in so timely and accurately a manner as to rule out more aggressive procedures, angiography and surgery.     

Clinical and anatomical features of acute myocardial infarction associated with double rupture of the interventricular septum and ventricular free wall]

Four patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) complicating double rupture; interventricular septum and ventricular free wall ruptures, were studied. All patients had histories of hypertension, and pre-infarction angina pectoris of short duration less than 8 days without previous MI. The sites of infarction were anteroseptal in 2 patients and inferoposterior in the other 2. Only one case was complicated with mild pump failure (Killip class II). Blood pressure was adequately controlled after the onset of MI in all patients. Interventricular septal rupture occurred between 2 and 10 days after the onset of MI. Free wall rupture occurred between 2 and 22 days after MI. Types of free wall ruptures were oozing in 2 patients and blow-out in the other 2. Surgical repair was performed in 2 patients with the oozing type rupture, who however died soon after surgery. The autopsy findings were as follows: 3 patients had left ventricular free wall ruptures and one had right ventricular free wall rupture. One of the patients with left ventricular free wall rupture showed a secondary rupture of a pseudo-ventricular aneurysm. Postmortem coronary angiograms revealed 3 patients with single-vessel disease and one patient with double-vessel disease, indicating that coronary arterial lesions and complicated heart failure were not severe in these 4 patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Surgical treatment of postinfarction rupture of the interventricular septum

Between 1975 and 1990, 28 patients at our institution underwent surgical repair for rupture of the interventricular septum after acute myocardial infarction. Of the infarctions, 16 (57%) were in the inferior wall, and 12 (43%) were in the anterior wall. The most consistent clinical indication of septal rupture after acute infarction was a systolic murmur heard over the left sternal border. This finding was followed by hemodynamic deterioration in all patients. At the time of admission, 18 (64%) of the patients were in cardiogenic shock or multiple organ failure. Twenty-one patients (75%) underwent left heart catheterization; multivessel coronary artery disease was present in 4 (19%) of these patients. In 26 (93%) of the patients, the septum ruptured within the 1st 10 days after the infarction. Emergency surgery for septal rupture was performed using standard techniques in 25 (89%) of the patients. The transatrial transtricuspid approach for septal repair, although used in only 3 (11%) of our patients, provided a good surgical alternative to standard techniques and warrants further research. Excluding 1 late death, the overall operative mortality was 57% (16 patients); the hospital survival rate was 43% (12 patients). Cardiogenic shock was the most common predictor of a poor prognosis. Therefore, in order to avoid this complication, we recommend immediate surgical repair of postinfarction interventricular septal rupture.     

Rupture of the interventricular septum complicating myocardial infarction: Pathological analysis of 10 patients with clinically diagnosed perforations

Among 768 myocardial infarcts in 480 hearts studied after postmortem coronary arteriography and formalin fixation in a distended state, there were 10 infarcts (1.3 per cent) complicated by perforation of the interventricular septum. Infarcts with rupture were large (average 28 per cent of left ventricular surface area), transmural, usually first infarcts, produced by complete occlusion of a coronary artery, and had little opportunity to receive collateral blood flow because of either significant obstructions of adjacent arteries or the pattern of coronary artery distribution. Six hearts had inferior-basilar defects in inferior-septal infarcts and four had mid-apical defects in anterior-septal infarcts. Development of septal rupture may relate to alterations of septal configuration: more curved than normal with inferior-basilar ruptures and bulging into the outflow tract with mid-apical ruptures. Pain was a common feature (50 per cent) of the development of the septal defect. A loud holosystolic murmur and severe hypotension were noted in all cases. Left-sided congestive heart failure was absent in the early post-rupture period. Diagnosis was established by right heart catheterization in the eight patients studied. Post-rupture survival without operation varied from 0.5 to 52 days (average 8 days) and the interval from infarct to rupture ranged from 0.5 to 7 days (average 4 days). The clinical course and pathologic findings in these patients support the desirability of early operative intervention in septal ruptures complicating infarcts.     

Surgical treatment of ventricular septal rupture following myocardial infarction in an aged patient with bronchial asthma

Urgent surgery for ventricular septal rupture following myocardial infarction in a 75-year-old female with bronchial asthma was successfully performed. On Feb 28, 1988, she had chest pain, and was admitted 5 days later because of the appearance of heart murmur. Pansytolic murmur (Levine 4/VI) on 3 LSB and piping sound on both lung fields was heard, ECG showed acute anteroseptal infarction. Right heart Swan-Ganz catheterization revealed left to right shunt, and the diagnosis was ventricular septal rupture following acute anteroseptal infarction with bronchial asthma. The initial hemodynamic condition was not serious, but soon after the diagnosis was confirmed, IABP was inserted and operation was indicated because of the advanced age, high shunt ratio (70%) and complication of bronchial asthma. The operation was performed a day after septal rupture. The perforation in the ventricular septum of the apex was sutured with a xenopericardium patch by mattres sutures through a left ventricle approach, and the ventricular wall was closed with this patch together. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient was discharged on the 43rd day after the operation.     

Myocardial infarct and rupture of the left ventricular free wall. Some considerations on incidence, morphological characteristics and risk factors]

Rupture of the left ventricle free wall is a sudden and unexpected event in myocardial infarction. It is considered the third most common cause of death, following cardiogenic shock and arrhythmias. The frequency of rupture varies because many patients may survive the initial insult of myocardial infarction. Conflicting reports regarding risk factors have been published by several authors. With these considerations in mind, the present investigation was undertaken to evaluate ventricular rupture in an autopsy population from the Instituto Nacional de Cardiología. We analyzed the salient morphologic features and the risk factors. Our results indicated an incidence rate of 17.7% of cardiac rupture in patients who died of acute myocardial infarction and were autopsied. Ruptures are more common in elderly female patient during their first infarct, they were localized preferentially in the anterior wall and occurred within the first four days after infarction. Chance of rupture was greater in hypertensive patients, whereas a history of previous infarct protected against this contingency.     

Postinfarction ventricular septal rupture: the importance of location of infarction and right ventricular function in determining survival

Over a 5.5 year period, 1264 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction as confirmed by enzyme levels were prospectively identified. Of these, 25 (2%) suffered ventricular septal rupture (pulmonary/systemic flow range 1.5 to 6) 7 +/- 7 days after onset of myocardial infarction. Death occurred in 14 patients (56%) and was more common after inferior than anterior myocardial infarction (11 of 15 [73%] vs three of 10 [30%], p less than .05). Among 133 variables analyzed, survivors and nonsurvivors were similar with respect to all premorbid clinical characteristics, infarct size as assessed by peak creatine kinase values, shunt size, two-dimensional echocardiographic and hemodynamic indexes of left ventricular function, and extent of coronary disease. Compared with survivors, the nonsurvivors had greater impairment of right ventricular function as determined by a higher two-dimensional echocardiographically derived right ventricular wall motion index (RVWMI) (0.55 +/- 0.87 vs 1.70 +/- 0.45, p less than .001), greater elevation of right ventricular end-diastolic pressure (11 +/- 6 vs 17 +/- 6, p less than .02), and greater mean right atrial pressure (10 +/- 6 vs 16 +/- 3, p less than .01). Of interest, two of the three patients who presented with anterior myocardial infarction and who died had inferiorly extended infarcts and all had abnormal RVWMIs (greater than or equal to 1.0). As expected, cardiogenic shock shortly after onset of ventricular septal rupture was associated with a 91% mortality, but was more common after inferior than anterior myocardial infarction (60% vs 20%, p less than .05). The mean effective cardiac index was also higher in survivors than nonsurvivors (2.1 +/- 0.5 vs 1.2 +/- 0.5, p less than .001). Finally, multivariate analysis indicated that all nonsurvivors could be identified based on: an effective cardiac index of 1.75 liters/min/m2 or less, the presence of extensive right ventricular and septal dysfunction on the two-dimensional echocardiogram, a mean right atrial pressure of 12 mm Hg or more, and early onset of ventricular septal rupture. Thus, our data demonstrate that: mortality is higher when ventricular septal rupture complicates inferior than when it complicates anterior myocardial infarction, survivors can be distinguished from nonsurvivors and the prediction of outcome is highly accurate, and combined right ventricular and septal dysfunction has a substantial impact on prognosis.     

Complicated acute myocardial infarction. Heart failure, shock, mechanical complications.

In-hospital mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction is predominantly related to heart failure or shock and mechanical complications (acute mitral regurgitation, ventricular septal rupture, and free wall rupture). Heart failure and shock are primarily the consequences of contractile dysfunction of the left ventricle. Use of inotropic agents and assist devices are temporizing measures; early reperfusion with salvage of ischemic interventricular septum or free wall, resulting in severe mitral insufficiency, left to right shunt, and acute tamponade, respectively, necessitates immediate diagnosis and surgical intervention.     

Echocardiographic findings in cardiogenic shock due to right ventricular myocardial infarction.

The echocardiographic findings in a patient with cardiogenic shock secondary to acute right ventricular myocardial infarction based on typical clinical, electrocardiographic, and hemodynamic features are described. The echocardiogram demonstrated a large RV/LV minor axis ratio caused by a volume overload of the right ventricle and an underfilled left ventricle. The interventricular septum showed abnormal movement, presumably due to right ventricular overload or severe disease of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Diminished septal systolic thickening, as seen in our patient, may be explained by extension of the infarct from the right ventricle to the adjacent part of the septum. Predominant right ventricular involvement can be a cause for a correctable hypotension in patients with acute myocardial infarction and should therefore be recognized early. The echocardiographic picture demonstrated in our patient, when considered in conjunction with the clinical status, can be useful for early diagnosis.     

Echocardiographic findings in cardiogenic shock due to right ventricular myocardial infarction

The echocardiographic findings in a patient with cardiogenic shock secondary to acute right ventricular myocardial infarction based on typical clinical, electrocardiographic, and hemodynamic features are described. The echocardiogram demonstrated a large RV/LV minor axis ratio caused by a volume overload of the right ventricle and an underfilled left ventricle. The interventricular septum showed abnormal movement, presumably due to right ventricular overload or severe disease of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Diminished septal systolic thickening, as seen in our patient, may be explained by extension of the infarct from the right ventricle to the adjacent part of the septum. Predominant right ventricular involvement can be a cause for a correctable hypotension in patients with acute myocardial infarction and should therefore be recognized early. The echocardiographic picture demonstrated in our patient, when considered in conjunction with the clinical status, can be useful for early diagnosis.     

Incidence and forms of clinical presentation of the various morphologic types of myocardial laceration in the acute phase of infarct. A 4 years' caseload at a coronary unit. A clinico-anatomic study of 193 successive cases

AIMS: To determine the incidence of different morphological type of myocardial laceration (wall rupture) in patients who died of acute myocardial infarction, as well as to study the several clinical forms of presentation of different types of myocardial laceration. CONCEPT OF THE STUDY: To apply a protocol of prospective study, that includes 64 clinical and 34 anatomical parameters, using very discriminative technics in the anatomical study, already presented in previous papers. PLACE OF THE STUDY: The study took place in a CCU and pathological department of a University Hospital. POPULATION: Of 1308 patients successively admitted in a CCU with acute myocardial infarction between 1983-1986, 252 have died. It was possible to perform a necropsy study in 193. The only criterion for inclusion was the family agreement. METHODS: The study was a prospective one, being excluded only the patients in whom the anatomical study didn't confirm recent myocardial infarction. The clinical data were observed during the stay in the CCU, using a protocol developed for this study. In the anatomical study a protocol developed by the authors was applied, using very discriminative anatomical quantification technics of the infarct size as well as of the coronary obstruction degree by atherosclerotic plaques. In the study of the myocardial laceration a fourteen septal perpendicular cuts technic was applied, with a laceration development macroscopic study, and microscopic study of the more interesting cuts. All data were stored and treated in a computer program developed for this study. RESULTS: From the 193 cases that have been studied, 49 presented a complete free wall rupture (25%) and in two others there were an interventricular septal rupture and free wall rupture. The amount of free wall rupture was then 51 cases (26%), with a corrected incidence for the population with AMI of 5.1%. In 7 cases we found an interventricular septal rupture (in two cases associated with complete free wall rupture and in other two cases with an incomplete left ventricular rupture), what represents an incidence in necropsy of 3.6%. Since that in this period five patients with septal rupture have been operated and in three others the hemodynamic diagnosis was made, dying this patients without being performed necropsic study, the amount of septal ruptures was of 15 cases, what represents a corrected incidence of 1.1% in the population with AMI. The clinical forms of presentation of free wall rupture were the following: syncope followed by death (60%), shock (21%), transitory syncope (4%), psycho-motor troubling (4%). Pain persistence or recurrence associated with other clinical symptoms occurred in 63% of the patients. Hypotension, not always evoluting to shock, occurred in 33%, and pericarditis in 21% of the cases. When the different anatomical types of free wall rupture were considered (type I-direct rupture; type II-multicanalicular rupture; type III-rupture covered by an interventricular thrombus), we observed that in type I there was prevalence of syncope (71% and only 50% showed pain persistence or recurrence, when in type II syncope occurred in 67% and shock in 22%, with pain in 56%, and in type III the occurrence of syncope and shock were similar (44% vs 38%), with pain in 81% of the cases. Hypotension was verified in 56% in type III, 21% in type I and 22% in type II. Pericarditis never occurred in type I, happened in 33% in type II and 25% in type III. The terminal accident took an average 44 minutes long in type I, 3.8 hours in type II and 9.2 hours in type III. The delay in admission was nine hours in type I, 19 in type II and 30 in type III, and the time between the onset of symptoms and death was 2.9, 2.7 and 5.4 days respectively in types I, II and III. In what concerns the interventricular septal rupture shock occurred in all cases but one, in which association with free wall rupture determined cardiac tamponade with syncope.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Echocardiographic Features of Ventricular Septal Rupture with Right Ventricular Aneurysm After Acute Myocardial Infarction

Postinfarction ventricular septal defect is a life-threatening disorder that may be adequately treated if the diagnosis is obtained promptly. Two-dimensional color Doppler echocardiography is a reliable tool for this diagnosis and gives additional information regarding its location, size, and shape. The authors emphasize the feasibility of this method to depict a particular form of postinfarction interventricular septal rupture, which developed an aneurysm inside the right ventricular cavity. Its characteristics were completely defined by color Doppler echocardiography and confirmed at surgery.     

A case of perforation of the interventricular septum with free wall rupture, in the acute phase of myocardial infarct, successfully treated with surgery

The authors present a case of interventricular septal rupture with left ventricular free wall rupture post acute myocardial infarction operated on the third day after the onset of symptoms, by enfartectomy and application of a septal patch. Then, they compare this case with four cases referred in the literature, discussing the different and similar points between them. They emphasize the good results of this kind of surgery, but they also remark the need of an early diagnosis and surgery in these patients.     

Echocardiographic findings of ventricular septal rupture in acute myocardial infarction.

Echocardiograms were recorded both before and after the clinical appearance of an autopsy-confirmed interventricular septal rupture in a patient with an acute myocardial infarction. The major findings were related to the upper portion of the interventricular septum. Before rupture, this portion of the septum was relatively akinetic with a slight anterior motion during systole, whereas after rupture there was a marked increase in the amplitude of septal motion with abrupt posterior motion occurring with the onset of ventricular diastole.     

Myocardial rupture following acute myocardial infarction

Ten patients, eight males and two females, suffered myocardial rupture following acute myocardial infarction and required surgery. There were five ventricular septal ruptures, four papillary muscle ruptures and one free wall rupture. Ventricular septal rupture was suspected clinically by the appearance of a new systolic murmur, usually associated with a thrill at the left sternal border. A left to right shunt was confirmed by bedside oximetry using a Swan-Ganz catheter. The mean pulmonary to systemic flow ratio was 3.04:1. Following cardiac catheterization all patients underwent corrective surgery with or without aortocoronary bypass grafting. Three patients with inferior wall myocardial infarction died. Papillary muscle rupture was suspected clinically following the abrupt onset of hypotension with severe acute pulmonary edema accompanied by a new systolic murmur. The diagnosis was confirmed by cardiac catheterization. All underwent surgery for mitral valve replacement with or without aortocoronary bypass grafting. One patient died postoperatively of multiorgan failure. Free wall rupture was suspected clinically by the sudden onset of loss of consciousness, apnea, junctional bradycardia and severe hypotension leading to electromechanical dissociation. The diagnosis was confirmed by demonstrating a significant pericardial effusion by two dimensional echocardiography. Immediate surgery was performed. This patient is totally asymptomatic on no drug treatment six months following discharge. Ten patients underwent emergency surgery for myocardial rupture. Operative mortality was 40%. Patients with ventricular septal rupture associated with an inferior myocardial infarction had a poor prognosis.