Management of Left Ventricular Aneurysm by Intracavitary Repair

Abstract

Left ventricular aneurysms (LVAs) occur in up to 40% of patients after myocardial Most LVAs are caused by occlusion of the coronary arteries, most frequently the left anterior descending coronary artery, and are located in the anteroapical region of the left ventricle. They appear as circumscribed, noncontractile areas of tissue that can be identified by systolic thinning of the infarcted area of myocardium. Occasionally, LVAs result from trauma, nonspecific myocarditis, bacterial endocarditis, or congenital malformations of the heart. Whether to treat a patient with an LVA medically or surgically depends on the status of left ventricular function and on the severity of symptoms. Patients with LVAs usually have (in order of frequency) congestive heart failure (with or without angina), thromboembolism, and ventricular tachyarrhythmias. In patients with severe symptoms and medically intractable heart failure or angina, surgery is the only option. In most patients, symptoms and prognosis can be improved by repairing the aneurysm and, when necessary, by performing concomitant coronary artery bypass or valve repair. The goal of treatment is to restore normal filling volume and normal geometric chamber configuration. Until cardiopulmonary bypass became a reality, few attempts were made to correct left ventricular aneurysms. Soon after the introduction of cardiopulmonary bypass, however, we reported the first successful repair of a ventricular ane~rysm.~ In that procedure, we dissected the adherent parietal pericardium from the aneurysmal surface and then completely excised the aneurysm, trimming the edges back to the functional myocardium. Since then, we have used a variety of other techniques to repair ventricular aneurysms, including plication, septoplasty with plication, patches, septa1 patches, and overlapping and felt buttre~ses.~ Although these methods were satisfactory, each produced either distortion, papillary dysfunction, or compromised ventricular volume. In 1988, I tried a new method of repair in a few patients whose ventricular aneurysms were so large that repair by excision would have left too little normal myocardium to restore ventricular function. This technique of intracavitary repair, which I called ventricular endoaneurysmorrhaphy, differed from earlier techniques I had used4q5 and from similar techniques used by other^.^.^ Our results (detailed later) were excellent, and as our experience broadened, we began to use the endoaneurysmorrhaphy technique on even the highest-risk patients with good results. Furthermore, we found that endoaneurysmorrhaphy could be easily adapted to any situation where active myocardium was present. We now prefer this technique over any other. This report will detail the different indications and techniques of intracavitary repair that we use in the treatment of left ventricular aneurysms.