Case Report
Tachycardia with Wide QRS Complex on a Cocaine Dependent Patient: Not Everything is what it Seems
Márcio Galindo Kiuchi1,2*, Gustavo Ramalho e Silva1, Luis Marcelo Rodrigues Paz3, and Gladyston Luiz Lima Souto1
1Department of Cardiac Surgery and Artificial Cardiac Stimulation, Department of Medicine, Hospital e Clínica São Gonçalo, São Gonçalo, RJ, Brazil
2Electrophysiology Division, Department of Cardiology, Hospital e Clínica São Gonçalo, São Gonçalo, RJ, Brazil
3Interventional Cardiology Section, Department of Cardiology, Hospital e Clínica São Gonçalo, São Gonçalo, RJ, Brazil
- *Corresponding Author:
- Márcio Galindo Kiuchi
Electrophysiology Division
Department of Cardiology
Hospital e Clínica São Gonçalo
São Gonçalo, RJ
Brazil
Tel: +552126047744
Fax: +552126047744
E-mail: marciokiuchi@gmail.com
Received date: June 13, 2016; Accepted date: July 11, 2016; Published date: July 16, 2016
Citation: Kiuchi MG,e Silva GR,Rodrigues LM,Lima Souto GL (2016) Tachycardia with Wide QRS Complex on a Cocaine Dependent Patient: Not Everything is what it Seems. Arrhythm Open Access 1:114. doi:10.4172/atoa.1000114
Copyright: © 2016 Kiuchi MG, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Abstract
Introduction: Ventricular arrhythmias related to cocaine may not respond to antiarrhythmic drugs and may need treatment with radiofrequency ablation. Case presentation: In this case we describe a 33-year-old man that presented to the emergency room complaining of chest discomfort and slight palpitations predominantly in the precordium, starting for 1 hour ago. The patient reports rare episodes of non tachycardic palpitations in the past, short-lived. He denied syncope or presyncope and did not show low output objective signs. After exams, he was diagnosed with sustained ventricular tachycardia confirmed by all used electrocardiographic criteria; the emergency medical team chose to use intravenous amiodarone, which reverted the arrhythmia. The patient was hospitalized, and continued intravenous amiodarone, sedation with benzodiazepines and 24-hour continuous monitoring electrocardiographic (Holter) were conducted. Amiodarone was suspended and was initiated oral diltiazem 80 mg in 8/8 hours. We requested a cardiac nuclear magnetic resonance image that showed normal perfusion and contractility, the absence of delayed enhancement, mild hypertrophy of the basal septum and lack of arrhythmogenic substrate. Electrophysiological study (EPS) was performed. Conclusion: During the EPS, the ECG at baseline was normal. The programmed electrical stimulation induced atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) with aberrant conduction. The ablation of the slow pathway was successful, and the patient did not present new tachycardia episodes.