[Pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle serially demonstrated from on-set using two-dimensional echocardiography: a...

A case of so-called pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle without pericardial adhesion, serially demonstrated by two-dimensional echocardiography, was reported. A 76-year-old man developed congestive heart failure 10 hours after gastrectomy, and was diagnosed as having acute myocardial infarction. Two-dimensional echocardiography on the 21st day after onset revealed moderate pericardial effusion and an echo-free space in the posterolateral myocardium of the left ventricle. The echo-free space gradually expanded exteriorly and formed an aneurysm, which remained unchanged after the resolution of the pericardial effusion. Clinical diagnosis of pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle was made by left ventriculography and coronary angiography. At autopsy, there was an aneurysm measuring 2.3 X 3.0 X 5.0 cm which communicated with the left ventricle via two small ostia, 5 mm each in diameter. There was a loose fibrous adhesion between the pericardium and the epicardium. The wall of the aneurysm consisted of organized fibrous tissue without any elements of the myocardium. Both myocardium and fibrous tissue were located at the junction of the left ventricular wall and the aneurysm. It is surmised that dissection of the infarcted myocardium expanded so greatly as to form an aneurysmal cavity, resulting in the formation of a so-called pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle after fibrous changes of the outer wall in the infarcted myocardium. Therefore, this aneurysm might be termed a "dissecting" aneurysm of the left ventricle. The hypothesis that a pseudoaneurysm is derived from a localized hemopericardium should be reconsidered.