Staphylococcal abscess complicating endocardial aneurysmectomy

Subendocardial left ventricular aneurysmectomy relieved previously intractable ventricular tachycardia in a 68-year-old man with severe coronary artery disease. Staphylococcal septicemia developed postoperatively; an infected venoclysis site may have provided the portal of entry. Autopsy confirmed staphylococcal abscess at the epicardial aspect of the ventriculotomy, constituting the first reported case, to our knowledge, of this complication following endocardial surgery.