Prolonged intraaortic balloon support for septal rupture after myocardial infarction.

Timing of surgical repair of ventricular septal defect developing after acute myocardial infarction remains controversial. We report the case of a 75-year-old man in whom a ventricular septal defect developed 7 days after myocardial infarction. The patient was maintained on intraaortic balloon pump support for 33 days before successful surgical closure. In the present era of aggressive preoperative hemodynamic management, the strategy of prolonged support before definitive operation on patients with myocardial infarction in whom a ventricular septal defect develops must be reconsidered.