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Summary Two-dimensional echocardiography was utilized in a prospective study to find the incidence, characteristics and natural history of left ventricular thrombus in 50 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction. The overall incidence of thrombosis was 14%; 19% in anterior and 5% in inferior infarction. The thrombus was detected at the apex in 4, along the ventricular septum in 2 and at both these sites in one patient. It was observed 3-10 days after the infarction. Thrombus at the ventricular septum, seen in this study, has not been reported previously in acute myocardial infarction. Development of apical and septal thrombi was significantly associated with akinesis of these sites. Only 2 patients with protruding thrombi had systemic embolism. We conclude that the apex as well as the septum are common sites for thrombosis in patients with severe wall motion abnormalities following acute anterior infarction. Careful observation of these sites during echocardiography may reveal thrombi prone for embolization.

To determine the prevalence and significance of a systolic mitral murmur heard after a first acute myocardial infarction (MI), we studied 186 consecutive patients in the coronary care unit (CCU) during a one-year period. Fifteen patients had a murmur as a result of mitral regurgitation (MR) (prevalence 8%) documented by colour Doppler flow imaging. It was heard before the third day of hospitalization in 10 (67%) patients, and on the third day itself in the remainder. The severity of MR was graded semi-quantitatively: moderate in 12 (80%) patients, and mild, moderate to severe and severe in three respectively. The direction of the MR jet, determined by colour flow imaging, improved the information obtained by two-dimensional echocardiography (2D echo) that could only diagnose mitral leaflet abnormality in seven (47%) patients. In 10 of 15 (67%) patients, the 2D echo ejection fraction was greater than or equal to 40% and in eight (53%) the wall motion score obtained by analysing 11 left ventricular (LV) segments was less than or equal to 8. Two (13%) patients died in the CCU, four (27%) had LV failure, one angina and eight (53%) remained asymptomatic in the hospital. Of 171 patients without a systolic murmur, 22 (13%) had LV failure, 13 (8%) angina and 25 (15%) died during the in-hospital stay (P-NS for these complications between patients with and without MR murmur). During a follow-up of 12-24 months, one MR patient died, and seven (47%) remained asymptomatic. We conclude that the prevalence of MR systolic murmurs in acute MI patients is low.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)