Successful transcatheter closure of a postmyocardial infarction ventricular septal rupture in a patient rejected for cardiac surgery: usefulness of transesophageal echocardiography.

Acute ventricular septal rupture is a high-risk complication of myocardial infarction. Although early surgical treatment improves the prognosis of this condition, hospital mortality after emergency surgery ranges from 10% to 60%. Transcatheter closure is an established method of treating selected congenital septal defects; less experience exists regarding its usefulness for postmyocardial infarction ventricular septal defect. We report a case of successful transcatheter closure of a postmyocardial infarction ventricular septal defect with a septal occluder in a 71-year-old patient rejected for surgery.