title: Six-year follow-up of a left ventricular pseudoaneurysm without surgical repair.
abstract: Pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle is a rare complication of acute myocardial infarction. The present report describes the unusual case of a 75-year-old woman who survived six years with an unrepaired left ventricular pseudoaneurysm. The diagnosis of pseudoaneurysm was made after two-dimensional echocardiography showed an extra large chamber next to the posterolateral region of the left ventricle with a massive thrombus; the diagnosis was confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging four years later. The patient refused surgical repair and continued with acetylsalicylic acid, a beta-blocker and an angiotensin II receptor antagonist. The patient was essentially asymptomatic and followed at six-month intervals until she died of carcinoma of the urinary bladder in the sixth year. The present case indicates that surgery is not the only therapeutic option in patients with a ventricular pseudoaneurysm.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Shanghai Ninth Hospital, Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. jiang_chaohui@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Chaohui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Xziangjun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017541:Aneurysm, False / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D017542:Aneurysm, Ruptured / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000150:complications; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D018450:Disease Progression; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006322:Heart Aneurysm / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006352:Heart Ventricles; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D013997:Time Factors; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000150:complications