Apical intramyocardial dissection after myocardial infarction diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance: case report
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37615/retic.v9n1a13Keywords:
heart dissection, echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, myocardial infarction, case reportsAbstract
Myocardial dissection represents an unusual and potentially fatal form of mechanical complication after acute myocardial infarction, characterized by the separation of necrotic myocardial layers and the formation of a contained hematic cavity. We present the case of a patient with a history of percutaneous coronary revascularization, who developed a dissection confined to the apex of the left ventricle. Transthoracic echocardiography identified a neocavity delimited by a mobile endomyocardial plane, a finding later confirmed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, which ruled out free rupture or intracavitary communication. The patient was managed conservatively, with favorable clinical evolution. This case emphasizes the critical role of multimodal imaging in the detection and structural characterization of this entity, as well as in risk stratification and therapeutic planning. Echocardiography, combined with advanced techniques such as
MRI, is an indispensable tool in the management of this rare postischemic complication.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Carlos Andrés Castro-Galvis, Juan Santiago Serna-Trejos, Stefanya Geraldine Bermúdez-Moyano, Laura Catalina Rodríguez-Fonseca, Edgardo Quiñones-Quiñones, José Fernando Vallejo-Díaz
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