Role of three-dimensional echocardiography in structural complications after acute myocardial infarction

Three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) is a unique cardiovascular imaging modality in terms of: ability to provide realistic anatomical views of cardiac structures in the beating heart and possibility to visualize cardiac structures from any desired perspective. Therefore, 3DE is emerging as an accurate imaging modality for a prompt diagnosis and detailed anatomical description of structural complications (SC) of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We report 3 emblematic cases which show how both the transthoracic (TTE) and transesophageal (TEE) 3D imaging can provide precise anatomic information useful to address management of SC in AMI patients: (1) detailed assessment of size, location, and morphology of an apical ventricular septal defect (VSD) obtained with 3DTTE was pivotal in referring the patient to percutaneous closure of it; (2) size and location of a complex inferior VSD with irregular margins advised against percutaneous closure; and (3) 3DTEE assisted surgeons to choose between reparative or replacement surgery for an acute mitral regurgitation due to complete papillary muscle rupture.