[Surgical treatment for complete rupture of anterior papillary muscle after acute myocardial infarction].

A 64-year-old male patient with postinfarction complete anterior papillary muscle rupture and massive mitral regurgitation is presented. The diagnosis was suspected clinically and confirmed by transesophageal echocardiography. One week after the episode of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) the patient had a sudden onset of severe congestive heart failure with pulmonary edema and was transferred to our hospital. The patient underwent an emergency mitral valve replacement with a SJM29M prosthetic valve. Histological examination revealed an acute coagulation necrosis of the anterior papillary muscle without specific inflammatory change. To our knowledge this is the second case with successful surgery for a complete rupture of the anterior papillary muscle following AMI in Japan.