Transient severe myocardial ischemia during septic shock in a young woman with AIDS

A 29-year-old woman with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was admitted to the intensive care unit with a diagnosis of septic shock. During intensive hemodynamic support with intravenous dopamine, she developed electrocardiographic ischemic changes compatible with an acute injury pattern. The pattern disappeared readily and was not followed by any subsequent enzymatic evidence of myocardial necrosis. Intensive hemodynamic support with intravenous catecholamines may induce myocardial ischemia even in young AIDS patients with no apparent risk for coronary artery disease.