[Factors contributing to the onset of heart rupture in acute infarct]

The aim of this study was to find out the contributing factors for cardiac rupture in the course of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Past medical histories and autopsy data of 80 patients were analyzed. The first group consisted of 30 patients who died due to heart rupture in the course of AMI and the control group of 50 patients who died from the other, more common complications of AMI. There was no difference between the groups according to age and sex of the patients. All patients who died from the rupture of the heart had a history of heavy chest pain, while it was lacking in 30% of the patients of the control group (p less than 0.01). All the first group patients showed electrocardiograms diagnostic for AMI, while it was lacking in 14% of the second group patients (p less than 0.05). Almost a half of the second group patients (47%) were in the class I of the Killip's classification, while only 20% of the control group did not developed left ventricular failure. Pathological study showed that the rupture of the heart most commonly occurred in the course of an anterior myocardial infarction. There was no difference according to the size of infarctions between observed groups, but the thickness of the left ventricular wall was significantly less (p less than 0.05) in the control group, and the heart weights were higher (p less than 0.05) in the control group. There was advanced atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries and about two thirds of the first group patients showed acute coronary thrombosis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)