Left ventricular pseudoaneurysm: A case report and literature review

Left ventricular pseudoaneurysms are rare but clinically significant, often developing after transmural myocardial infarction, surgery, trauma, or infection. Despite their rarity, they pose a high risk of spontaneous rupture, making early detection and diagnosis crucial. Symptoms such as heart failure, chest pain, and dyspnea can be present, but diagnostic imaging is typically required, as clinical signs are neither sensitive nonspecific. The gold standard for diagnosis remains angiography of the left ventricle and coronary arteries, though advances in noninvasive imaging (e.g., echocardiography, CT scan, and especially cardiac MRI) now allow better differentiation between pseudoaneurysms and true aneurysms. Due to the high risk of rupture, surgical repair is generally recommended for symptomatic pseudoaneurysms, though no standardized guidelines exist for follow-up imaging. Advances in imaging techniques have greatly improved the diagnostic process, enabling more accurate and timely interventions.