Medical Translation
Left ventricle calcification
By Gabriel Perez Baztarrica, Fabio Sanchez and Rafael Porcile
Cardiac calcifications occur habitually in the valves, the sinus and atrioventricular node, coronary arteries and rarely in the ventricular myocardium as a consequence of a previous heart attack. The last few are associated with complications, among which are heart failure, systemic embolisms and arrhythmias.
This is an exceptional case of a serious myocardial calcification associated with heart failure refractory to medical treatment.
This is a 58 year old patient with a history of previous myocardial infarction progressing to dilated cardiomyopathy necrosis (a 10% ejection fraction of the left ventricle) with multiple hospitalizations for heart failure. He was admitted in our hospital for another comprehensive picture of overall heart failure refractory to medical treatment (inotropic and IABP). Both chest radiography and coronary angiography (right oblique view) show that a thick calcified ventricular wall is evident to the anterior and lateral level and the tip of the heart. (constant- arrows)
The patient was referred to another center for an evaluation for a heart transplant.