Successful surgical treatment of mitral regurgitation for complete rupture of the anterior papillary muscle after acute myocardial infarction.

Papillary muscle rupture complicating acute myocardial infarction leads to mitral regurgitation and is associated with significant mortality. We experienced a case involving massive mitral regurgitation caused by complete anterior papillary muscle rupture following acute lateral myocardial infarction. A 75-year-old woman developed heart failure shortly after her admission, and the diagnosis was confirmed by echocardiography and cardiac catheterization. Under intra-aortic balloon pumping, the patient underwent emergency mitral valve replacement and coronary revascularization. Her postoperative course was uneventful, and she was discharged on the 40th postoperative day. We believe that prompt surgical treatment should be performed even in stable patients with ischemic mitral regurgitation, given that deterioration may be sudden and unpredictable especially in cases involving complete papillary muscle rupture.