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Updated: Jan 9, 2026

A New Single Chamber Implantable Defibrillator with Atrial Sensing: A Practical Demonstration of Sensing and Ease of Implantation
Published on: February 28, 2012
Ventricular Fibrillation From Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection in a Patient With Atrioventricular Nodal
Rehan Akhtar1, Jennifer Llewellyn2, Matthew Grant3
1Department of Medical Education, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, GBR.
Insights
Managing ventricular fibrillation (VF) requires identifying the cause. This case shows how cardiac imaging revealed spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) as the cause of VF in a patient with a history of tachycardia, guiding implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) decisions.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Cardiac Electrophysiology
- Cardiovascular Imaging
Background:
- Ventricular fibrillation (VF) management is complex when the etiology is unclear.
- Atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia (AVNRT) is a known arrhythmia, but its association with VF and cardiac arrest requires further investigation.
- Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an increasingly recognized cause of myocardial infarction and arrhythmias, particularly in younger women.
Abstract:
Ventricular fibrillation (VF) management requires identification of the underlying cause and consideration of implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy; these decisions are complicated when the aetiology is unclear. We present a 41-year-old woman with lifelong atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia (AVNRT) who experienced cardiac arrest secondary to VF. Multimodality cardiac imaging identified features suggestive of spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) with transient vessel healing but a new apical scar. Given the scar-related arrhythmogenic substrate, risk of SCAD recurrence, and prior AVNRT episodes degenerating into polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (PMVT), a single-chamber ICD was implanted. This case highlights the need to avoid diagnostic anchoring on the pre-existing arrhythmia as the cause for cardiac arrest and demonstrates the value of imaging in identifying SCAD as the cause and in guiding ICD decision-making.
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