Ventricular Septal Rupture and Right Ventricular Free Wall Dissection after Inferior Myocardial Infarction: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

published online 27 January 2010.

Ventricular septal rupture (VSR) with dissection of the right ventricular free wall is an extremely rare complication after inferior myocardial infarction. Mortality is 100% without surgical treatment. The optimal surgical strategy remains unclear because of the limited number of cases, but repair of VSR alone might be equally effective as repair of VSR and right ventricular free wall reconstruction. Transesophageal echocardiography is an important adjunct to transthoracic echocardiography to establish the diagnosis.

Keywords: Ventricular septal rupture, Right ventricular free wall dissection, Transesophageal echocardiography, Management

a Department of Cardiology, Sacre-Coeur Hospital, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

b Montreal Heart Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Reprint requests: Gernot Schram, MD, PhD, Montreal Heart Institute, 5000 Belanger Street East, Montreal, Quebec H1T 1C8, Canada.

PII: S0894-7317(09)01102-X

doi:10.1016/j.echo.2009.11.020

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