Case report Surgical treatment of interventricular septum rupture in an 87-year-old female with acute antero-lateral myocardial infarction and 97% risk according to the Euroscore scale

Rupture of the interventricular septum is a serious complication of myocardial infraction (MI). It occurs in 1-3% of all MI cases, usually within 2 weeks after infraction. In 60% of the cases post-MI ventricular septal defects (VSD) are the result of completely occluded coronary artery supplying anterior wall of left ventricle and subsequent transmural MI. 50% of patients die within the first week after the rupture unless they are surgically treated. In this case report we describe an 87-year-old woman with post-MI VSD who was successfully operated (endocardial patch exclusion technique, proposed by David). In spite of a very high predicted risk (97% by Euroscore), calculated high risk should not be considered as the contraindication for life-saving operation.