Cardiac rupture
Cardiac rupture occurs most often as a result of infarctive damage to the myocardium (usually transmural); it may also occur as a result of trauma.
Features:
- about 10% of patients dying in hospital following an acute myocardial infarction will have a ventricular rupture
- more common in women (4:1)
- most commonly affects the left ventricle around the apex at the terminal distribution of the left anterior descending artery
- usually occurs 3-5 days following the myocardial infarct - may occur up to 3 weeks after the initial cardiac insult
The consequenses will include bleeding into the pericardium - causing cardiac tamponade, with progressively poorer cardiac function.
Related pages
Create an account to add page annotations
Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page