Increase in internal defibrillation threshold during acute myocardial infarction.

Abstract

A 67-year-old man suffered an acute anteroseptal myocardial infarction complicated by multiple episodes of ventricular fibrillation, which were not systematically defibrillated by maximum, internal 35-J shocks delivered by an implanted cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). He had suffered from acute inferior myocardial infarction 6 years earlier, complicated with sustained polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT). Due to inducibility of sustained VT on an electrophysiologic study, an ICD was implanted. Defibrillation testing performed after healing of anteroseptal infarction was successful with a 10-J safety margin, suggesting that acute myocardial ischemia transiently elevated the internal defibrillation threshold.

• Authors: Masaki Ota, Yoshiaki Kaneko, Tadashi Nakajima, Akihiro Saito, Tadanobu Irie, Toshimitsu Kato, Takafumi Iijima, Toshio Ito, Mamoru Manita, Masahiko Kurabayashi
• Journal: Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) (Intern Med) Vol. 49 Issue 18 Pg. 1975-8 ( 2010) ISSN: 1349-7235 [Electronic] Japan
• PMID: 20847501 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Topics

• Aged
• Defibrillators, Implantable
• Electrocardiography
• Humans
• Male
• Myocardial Infarction (diagnosis, physiopathology, therapy)