Cardiac Pseudoaneurysm- A Death Defying Entity

• Main Authors: Manoj Mathur, Saryu Gupta
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited 2016-06-01
• Series: Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research
• Subjects: free wall rupture; myocardial infarction; true aneurysm
• Online Access: https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/7936/19956_CE[Ra1]_F(GH)_PF1(SWAK)_PFA(AK)_PF2(PAG).pdf

A pseudoaneurysm refers to a contained rupture of the myocardium with a tenuous pericardium walling off the leak. It needs to be differentiated from a true aneurysm by the fact that there is lack of myocardial tissue in the wall of a pseudoaneurysm. The differentiation between the two is pertinent as true aneurysms can be treated medically while pseudoaneurysms require urgent surgical treatment. Untreated pseudoaneurysms carry a high risk of rupture and mortality. We report a case of cardiac pseudoaneurysm developing in a 46-year-old male who had suffered myocardial infarction four months back. The patient now presented with chest pain and dyspnoea. CECT chest revealed a partially thrombosed large pseudoaneurysm arising from the posterior wall of left ventricle. While the clinical diagnosis of this entity is difficult, CECT plays a pivotal role in the noninvasive detection of pseudoaneurysms.