A neonate who underwent corrective surgery for cardiac-type total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) was suspected of having a pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricular (LV) free wall on transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) on postoperative day 11. Emergency surgery was performed the following day, revealing LV rupture due to a congenital partial defect of the LV free wall. The defect was successfully repaired using double-patch closure reinforced with BioGlue. The postoperative course was uneventful. This case highlights that left ventricular rupture may occur due to an unrecognized congenital defect after neonatal cardiac surgery, particularly in conditions such as TAPVC, where the left ventricle is underfilled preoperatively.
Kondo et al. (Fri,) studied this question.