Abstract
In all autopsied cases from Januray 1980 to June 1988 (56∼102 years old, 243 men and 307 women), cardiac rupture death was observed in 14 cases out of 68 deaths of acute myocardial infarction in our hospital. Cardiac rupture occured in 2, 4, 3, and 5 cases in their 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90' respectively, and 4 in men and 10 in women. Complaints of chest pain were present in 4 cases. Cerebrovascular disease was present in 9 cases and hypertension in 7. In 9 cases, the thickness of the ruptured wall was over 14mm. The location of the ruptured lesion was the anterior wall in 4 cases, anteroseptal in 3, anterolateral in 1, lateral in 1, posterior in 1, and apical in 1. In conclusion, the incidence of cardiac rupture was higher in female than in males, and in silent myocardial infarction than in painful one. The location of rupture was frequently in the anterior or lateral wall. Aging and hypertension would not be a worsening factor in the pathogenesis of cardiac rupture in myocardial infarction, but cerebrovascular disease might be a risk factor in respect to masking occurence of myocardial infarction.
