title: Surgical repair of mechanical complications of myocardial infarction.
abstract: Mechanical complications of acute myocardial infarction are estimated to account for 25,000 fatalities yearly in the United States. The diagnosis necessitates a high degree of clinical suspicion. Once recognized, prompt surgical intervention is necessary because if left untreated the condition frequently causes a fatal outcome. The main determinants of survival are the preoperative hemodynamic status of the patient, the presence of multisystem failure at presentation, and concomitant revascularization during repair of the defect. Because ischemic heart disease remains the leading cause of death in such patients following repair, coronary artery bypass should be considered and, whenever possible, performed in conjunction with repair of the postinfarct mechanical complication.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery (MC 958), Department of Surgery, The University of Illinois at Chicago, 840 South Wood Street, CSB Suite 417, 60612 Chicago, Illinois, USA. mmassad@uic.edu
authors.forename: Malek G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Massad
authors.forename: Alexander S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Geha
mesh_terms: D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D006322:Heart Aneurysm / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D006342:Heart Rupture, Post-Infarction / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications*; D012770:Shock, Cardiogenic / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery