Echocardiographic features of left ventricular aneurysm and false tendon in a patient with postinfarction pseudoaneurysm after aneurysmectomy.
Three years after the repair of a true left ventricular aneurysm, a 62-year-old man was admitted to our department for spontaneous angina pectoris and heart failure. The two-dimensional echocardiogram revealed a uniformly dilated left ventricle with a large apical aneurysm, in which a thin, continuous, band-like echogenic structure, extending from the interventricular septum to the antero-lateral wall could be visualized. That structure was initially interpreted as a left ventricular false tendon. Color Doppler flow imaging, however, showed a continuous, phasic flow crossing the band-like structure. Thus, the diagnosis of a huge apical pseudoaneurysm was made and subsequently confirmed by angiographic findings. In conclusion, left ventricular pseudoaneurysms may present themselves with unusual morphologic features. In patients with equivocal two-dimensional echocardiographic findings, color Doppler flow imaging is helpful in clarifying morphologic ambiguities and in identifying unsuspected flow abnormalities.
Badano
L
L
Cardiologia A.R.C., Ospedale Civile, Pordenone, Italia.
Piazza
R
R
Bisignani
G
G
Nicolosi
G L
GL
D017541:Aneurysm, False / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D004452:Echocardiography; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D006322:Heart Aneurysm / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D011690:Purkinje Fibers / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013997:Time Factors