Course: Bizarre Wide-Complex Tachycardia in a Man in His 60s With Severe Chest Pain
CME Credits: 1.00
Released: 2022-04-13
A man in his 60s presented to the emergency department with chest pain of 18-hour duration. On admission, his pulse was 129 beats per minute, respiratory rate was 36 breaths per minute, and blood pressure was 126/77 mm Hg. An electrocardiogram (ECG) showed a regular wide-complex tachycardia, which raised concern about ventricular tachycardia (, A). We identified a 1:1 atrioventricular relationship in leads V4-5 but did not exclude ventricular tachycardia with 1:1 retrograde conduction. Rather than wide QRS complexes, the ECG tracing suggested a combination of QRS and extreme ST-deviation (, B). The triangular or lambda-shaped QRS-ST ECG pattern appears to be an ominous sign with a malignant prognosis in patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction., Emergent coronary arteriography showed a thrombotic completely occluded left anterior descending artery, which was effectively revascularized percutaneously. However, because the coronary artery thrombosis was complicated by polymorphic ventricular tachyarrhythmia and cardiogenic shock, the patient eventually required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Unfortunately, the patient’s health status continued to deteriorate, and he died 1 day later.
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