Ventricular Aneurysm - Clinical Features and Place of Surgical Repair

Twelve patients with ventricular aneurysm were studied and of these six were treated by resection without mortality. Ten of the cases followed clear evidence of myocardial infarction but in two no definite history of myocardial infarction was elicited. Clinical features commonly observed were refractory congestive cardiac failure, recurrent ventricular arrhythmia or severe angina pectoris. The cases illustrate that a surgically remediable ventricular aneurysm may be present in the absence of classical ECG or plain X-ray abnormalities and demonstrate the importance of cineventriculo-graphy in the diagnosis. The results indicate the importance of considering ventricular aneurysm in patients with coronary artery disease and resistant heart failure, angina or arrhythmia.