Mechanical complications after an acute infarction involve different forms of heart rupture, including free wall rupture, interventricular septal rupture, and papillary muscle rupture. Its incidence decreased dramatically with the widespread use of reperfusion therapies occurring in <1% of ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients, and mortality is very high if not properly diagnosed, as surgery is the only effective treatment (Ibanez et al, 2017). Echocardiography is the most important tool for diagnosis that should be suspected in patients with hypotension, heart failure, or recurrent chest pain. Awareness and well-established protocols are crucial for an early diagnosis. Modern imaging techniques permit a more reliable and direct identification of left ventricular free wall rupture, which is almost impossible to identify with conventional echocardiography. Mitral regurgitation, secondary to papillary muscle ischaemia or necrosis or left ventricular dilatation and remodelling, without papillary muscle rupture, is frequent after myocardial infarction and is considered as an independent risk factor for outcomes. Revascularization to control ischaemia and surgical repair should be considered in all patients with severe or symptomatic mitral regurgitation in the absence of severe left ventricular dysfunction. Other mechanical complications include true aneurysms and thrombus formation in the left ventricle. Again, these complications have decreased with the use of early reperfusion therapies and, for thrombus formation, with aggressive antithrombotic treatment. In a single large randomized trial (STICH), surgical remodelling of the left ventricle failed to demonstrate a significant improvement in outcomes, although it still may be an option in selected patients.
Double- Chambered Left Ventricle and Abnormal Papillary Muscle Formation
