Type II bidirectional ventricular tachycardia in a patient with myocardial infarction
Osman Sonmez1, Enes Elvin Gul, Cetin Duman
1Department of Cardiology, Meram Faculty of Medicine, Selçuk University, Konya, Turkey.
Insights
This study reports a rare case of bidirectional ventricular tachycardia (BVT) in an 84-year-old man with myocardial infarction. The findings suggest myocardial ischemia as a potential cause of BVT, a condition not previously documented in infarction patients.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Electrophysiology
- Internal Medicine
Background:
- Bidirectional ventricular tachycardia (BVT) is a rare arrhythmia.
- Commonly associated with digitalis toxicity, hypokalemic periodic paralysis, and other conditions.
- BVT in the context of myocardial infarction is exceptionally uncommon.
Observation:
- An 84-year-old male presented with chest pain and palpitations.
- Electrocardiography revealed bidirectional ventricular tachycardia (BVT).
- Coronary angiography identified severe lesions in the left anterior descending and left circumflex arteries.
Findings:
- Myocardial ischemia was identified as the likely cause of BVT in this patient.
- The patient had no history of coronary artery disease or other known causes of BVT.
- This represents the first reported case of BVT associated with myocardial infarction in the literature.
Implications:
- Highlights myocardial ischemia as a potential, previously unreported, etiology for BVT.
- Expands the differential diagnosis for BVT, particularly in elderly patients with cardiac events.
- Suggests the need for thorough cardiac evaluation in patients presenting with BVT, even without typical risk factors.
Abstract:
A 84-year-old man presented to the emergency department complaining of chest pain and palpitations. He had no history of coronary artery disease. The 12-lead electrocardiography showed bidirectional ventricular tachycardia (BVT). Coronary angiography revealed severe mid left anterior descending and mid left circumflex lesions. The BVT, in this case, was most likely due to myocardial ischema. The ethiology of published BVT cases are most commonly digitalis toxicity and rarely herbal aconitine poisoning, hypokalemic periodic paralysis, cathecolaminergic VT, myocarditis, and Anderson-Tawil syndrome. The patient had neither of these underlying conditions. To the best of our knowledge and research in the literature, there was no report of bidirectional VT in the patients with myocardial infarction.
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