Left ventricular rupture following mitral valve replacement--a report of two cases.

Left ventricular rupture is a rare and usually fatal complication of mitral valve replacement, and we report herein, 2 successfully treated cases of type III left ventricular rupture. The laceration in the posterior ventricular wall was repaired by a wide buttressed mattress suture with teflon felt belts on either side, then covered with Oxycel and fibrin glue or a large patch and fibrin glue. Naturally, the operation must be performed carefully and gently, however, the most important etiologic factor of left ventricular rupture is the extremely friable myocardium due to aging and a long history of heart disease. Utilizing fibrin glue for successfully repairing the rupture proved very effective.