cardiovascular disorders
Complications of Acute Coronary Syndromes
Myocardial Rupture
Interventricular septum or free wall rupture occurs in 1% of patients with acute myocardial infarction. It causes 15% of hospital mortality. Interventricular septum rupture, although rare, is 8 to 10 times more common than papillary muscle rupture. Interventricular septum rupture is characterized by the sudden appearance of a loud systolic murmur and thrill medial to the apex along the left sternal border in the 3rd or 4th intercostal space, accompanied by hypotension with or without signs of left ventricular failure. Diagnosis may be confirmed using a balloon-tipped catheter and comparing blood oxygen saturation or PO2 of right atrial, right ventricular, and pulmonary artery samples. A significant increase in right ventricular PO2 is diagnostic, as is Doppler echocardiography, which may demonstrate the actual shunt of blood across the ventricular septum. Treatment is surgery, which should be delayed if possible for up to 6 weeks after MI so that infarcted myocardium can heal maximally; if hemodynamic instability persists, earlier surgery is indicated despite a high mortality risk. Free wall rupture increases in incidence with age and is more common among women. It is characterized by sudden loss of arterial pressure with momentary persistence of sinus rhythm and often by signs of cardiac tamponade. Surgery is rarely successful. Rupture of a free wall is almost always fatal. 