[Perforation of a stomach ulcer into the left heart ventricle. Case report and review of the literature].

We present a case of peptic-ulcer perforation from the stomach into the left ventricle. The patient who had no prior cardiac or abdominal symptoms was admitted with gastrointestinal bleeding and the electrocardiographic signs of myocardial infarction of the posterior wall. After the bleeding had subsided for 5 hours the patient died suddenly from massive upper gastrointestinal bleeding. At autopsy a peptic ulcer was found 3 cm beneath the cardia in the anterior wall on the lesser curvature which had perforated dorsal from the papillar muscle into the left ventricle. In the literature 19 such ulcer perforations have been reported which are compared with the present case.