Left ventricular free wall rupture following acute myocardial infarction and cardiac amyloid.

A 74-year-old man died of left ventricular free wall rupture 6 days following an acute inferoposterior wall myocardial infarction. His hospital course was complicated by pump failure which proved resistant to inotropic support, diuresis, and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. At necropsy, extensive amyloid deposition was noted. This case constitutes an unusual clinical setting for myocardial rupture because of the severity of systolic left ventricular dysfunction as well as cardiac amyloidosis.