Left Ventricular and adjacent Right ventricular Pseudoaneurysms post acute myocardial infarction communicating via a Ventricular Septal Defect

Abstract

The rare but deadly post myocardial infarction (MI) mechanical complications are categorized as ventricular free wall rupture, ventricular septal rupture (VSD) and papillary muscle rupture in decreasing order of incidence. The incidence of the mechanical complications has been mitigated by early revascularization in recent years but mortality remains high. The cardiac rupture if contained by clot, scar and pericardium leads to a LV pseudoaneurysm that delays or diminishes the fatal outcome. Mechanical complications and pseudoaneurysm are recognized by echocardiography. We report a previously unreported occurrence of a pseudoaneurysm involving the adjacent walls of both the ventricles, LV basal and inferoseptal walls and the adjacent right ventricular inferior wall (RV). The LV and RV communicated via a hole in the pseudoaneurysmal wall. The echocardiographic images initially showed the LV pseudoaneurysm bulging into the RV rather than into the pericardium. The color Doppler showed shunting through the LV pseudoaneurysm into the RV creating an unusual VSD. The CT angiograms corroborated the echo findings. The LV pseudoaneurysm had a tear in it and this led to bleeding not into pericardium but into the adjacent RV pseudoaneurysm, hence creating a very unusual VSD. Subsequently, our patient went for surgical repair of pseudoaneurysm and the surgical findings confirmed the imaging findings that there was a massive LV pseudoaneurysm from the inferior and inferoseptal walls, the adjacent RV wall was involved with the pseudoaneurysm and a communication between LV pseudoaneuysm sac and the RV was seen. Such pathology has not been described in the past.