Aneurysm of the cardiac ventricle. Its management by medical and surgical intervention.

Ventricular aneurysm is usually a complication of acute transmural myocardial infarction. The development of cardiac aneurysm represents a process of continued thinning and fibrosis of the necrotic tissue of the ventricular wall. Survival allows the development of a solid fibrous scar which of itself does not affect global ventricular function substantially. Hence, ventricular aneurysms can be present for up to 18 years without production of serious symptoms. The cases were reviewed of 45 patients in whom aneurysmectomy and myocardial revascularization were carried out. Surgical mortality was low (6.6 percent, 30 days); survival one year after operation was 76 percent, but at three years had fallen to 47 percent. Cause of late death was dominantly cardiac. In 19 patients post-operative study was done; although graft patency was observed in 98 percent, substantive improvement in ventricular performance was seen in a minority of patients. The outcome in patients with ventricular aneurysm is primarily related to the status of the residual myocardium and to the status of the vessels which supply it. The mechanism of clinical improvement after aneurysmectomy has not been clarified. However, the long-term results appear to be similar to those in patients with extensive myocardial infarction.