This report presents the case of a 63-year-old man who had a myocardial infarction leading to coronary artery bypass graft 2 years earlier who subsequently underwent elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. After an uneventful operation, the patient developed an acute postoperative myocardial infarction in the recovery room and died 19 days postoperatively. Anesthesiologists should be aware of the rare possibility of acute, fatal postoperative myocardial infarction and consider this complication when they perform the preoperative risk evaluation, anesthesia, and postoperative care for cardiac patients undergoing noncardiac surgery.
Keywords: Myocardial infarction; Noncardiac surgery.