When ventricular free wall rupture after acute myocardial infarction is not followed by sudden death, it is referred to as subacute ventricular rupture. The sensitivity and specificity of clinical, hemodynamic and echocardiographic diagnostic variables obtained at bedside are unknown and were therefore prospectively studied in 1,247 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction including 33 patients with subacute ventricular rupture diagnosed at operation (group A) and 1,214 patients without ventricular rupture (at operation, postmortem study or at discharge) (group B). The incidence of syncope, recurrent chest pain, hypotension, electromechanical dissociation, cardiac tamponade, pericardial effusion, high acoustic intrapericardial echoes, right atrial and right ventricular wall compression identified in two-dimensional echocardiograms and hemopericardium demonstrated during pericardiocentesis was higher in group A than in group B (p less than 0.00001). The presence of cardiac tamponade, pericardial effusion greater than 5 mm, high density intrapericardial echoes or right atrial or right ventricular wall compression had a high diagnostic sensitivity (greater than or equal to 70%) and specificity (greater than 90%). The number of false positive diagnoses was always high for each diagnostic variable alone (greater than 20%), but the combination of clinical (hypotension), hemodynamic (cardiac tamponade) and echocardiographic variables allowed a sensitivity of greater than or equal to 65% with a small number of false positive diagnoses (less than 10%) and provided useful information for therapeutic decisions. The diagnosis of subacute ventricular rupture requires a surgical decision. Twenty-five (76%) of the 33 patients with subacute ventricular rupture survived the surgical procedure and 16 (48.5%) are long-term survivors. Thus, subacute ventricular wall rupture is a relatively frequent complication after acute myocardial infarction that can be accurately diagnosed and successfully treated.
Echocardiographic findings in cardiac echinococcosis have been previously described in isolated cases, but no detailed account of the various echocardiographic aspects and their clinical and surgical implications have ever been reported. We present a retrospective analysis of the two-dimensional echocardiograms of 15 patients with hydatid cysts affecting the heart or great blood vessels. Two-dimensional echocardiogram features were compared with the main clinical syndromes. Surgical confirmation of the echocardiogram findings was available in 12 patients. The cyst sizes ranged from 0.5 to 12 cm in diameter. Eleven patients had single cysts, three patients had two cysts, and one patient had multiple cysts. Cysts were located in the intramyocardial region in nine patients, the pericardial in three, and the paracardial in another three. All intramyocardial cysts protruded into the adjacent cardiac chamber, but in only two patients was there significant tricuspid valvular dysfunction. Pericardial and mediastinal cysts showed compression of cardiac chambers or great blood vessels, and two cysts had ruptured into the descendent thoracic aorta or inferior vena cava. In most patients, two-dimensional echocardiographic images of hydatid cysts were those of a cystic mass having well-defined edges and internal trabeculations corresponding to daughter membranes. However, in four patients, two-dimensional echocardiographic images showed a "solid" mass instead of a cystic mass, and in one patient with the multivesicular variety of echinococcosis, the images showed a large mass with poorly defined edges having a honeycombed appearance causing lysis of the anterior arch of the second and third left ribs. The two-dimensional echocardiographic finding showed good correlation with main clinical syndromes, but anaphylactic reactions occurred in every cyst location. In one patient, postoperative two-dimensional echocardiography showed two small intramyocardial cysts that had not been noticed during preoperative two-dimensional echocardiography or during surgical examination. Pathological examination in the four patients with a solid mass showed replacement of the hydatid liquid by necrotic matter containing membrane residues with a foreign-body inflammatory reaction of a granulomatous type. In conclusion, two-dimensional echocardiography is a very useful tool for diagnosis and management of patients with cardiac echinococcosis, but the great diversity of findings regarding number, size, location, and appearance of cysts must be borne in mind to interpret correctly the two-dimensional echocardiograms.
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