("ECG" OR " EKG") AND "Pathognomonic"

Electrical alternans on electrocardiograph (ECG) is an uncommon but nearly pathognomonic sign of cardiac tamponade. Here, we present a male quadragenarian who came to the emergency department complaining of low back and right upper abdominal pain. Work-up revealed a large pericardial effusion associated with electrical alternans on ECG and clinical findings of cardiac tamponade. Pericardiocentesis drained approximately 1 liter of hemorrhagic fluid with resolution of cardiac tamponade and normalization of the ECG...

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a rare sudden cardiac death (SCD) syndrome characterized by ventricular arrhythmias of right ventricular (RV) origin. This case follows the presentation of ARVC in an otherwise healthy 26-year-old male. The patient was observed for one week after being admitted from the emergency department secondary to pre-syncope with pathognomonic findings on his electrocardiogram (EKG), echocardiogram, and cardiac imaging. The patient was started on beta-blockers, which ultimately he could not tolerate due to bradycardia, and the recommendation of an automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (AICD) was refused...

UNLABELLED: In the United States, tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) are commonly prescribed to treat psychiatric illnesses and neuropathic pain. This class of antidepressants has been found to cause pathognomonic electrocardiogram (ECG) changes in cases of overdose.1 Specifically, TCA's cause a dominant terminal R wave in aVR and widening of the QRS complex due to their sodium channel blocking effect. Diphenhydramine, better known as Benadryl, is known to disrupt sodium channels in the same manner...

Cardiomyopathies are a heterogeneous group of pathologies characterized by structural and functional alterations of the heart. Recent technological advances in cardiovascular imaging offer an opportunity for deep phenotypic and etiological definition. Electrocardiogram (ECG) is the first-line diagnostic tool in the evaluation of both asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals. Some electrocardiographic signs are pathognomonic or fall within validated diagnostic criteria of individual cardiomyopathy such as the inverted T waves in right precordial leads (V1-V3) or beyond in individuals with complete pubertal development in the absence of complete right bundle branch block for the diagnosis of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy of the right ventricle (ARVC) or the presence of low voltages typically seen in more than 60% of patients with amyloidosis...

INTRODUCTION: Wellens' syndrome represents an important, at times overlooked, spectrum of left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery occlusion, spontaneous reperfusion, and impending reocclusion. Once considered pathognomonic for a thromboembolic coronary event, an increasing number of clinical scenarios have been demonstrated to result in pseudo-Wellens' syndrome, each requiring unique forms of assessment and management. CASE REPORT: We describe two clinical presentations in which myocardial bridging (MB) of the LAD led to clinical and electrophysiologic presentations of a pseudo-Wellens' syndrome...

BACKGROUND: Current diagnostic criteria for coronary spasm are based on patient's symptoms, ECG shifts and epicardial vasoconstriction during acetylcholine (ACh) spasm testing. AIMS: To assess the feasibility and diagnostic value of coronary blood flow (CBF) and resistance (CR) assessment as objective parameters during ACh testing. METHODS: Eighty-nine patients who underwent intracoronary reactivity testing including ACh testing with synchronous Doppler wire-based measurements of CBF and CR were included...

BACKGROUND: Acute pericarditis/myocarditis is a rare complication of the mRNA-based vaccines and although mostly self-limiting, long-term sequelae remain unclear. METHODS: We enrolled all patients admitted to the emergency department between September 2021 and February 2022 meeting the CDC work case definition, with symptoms onset after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine. Alternative virologic causes were excluded. Clinical data, laboratory values, cardiologic evaluation, electrocardiogram (ECG), and echocardiogram (ECHO) were collected on admission, at discharge, and during follow-up in all patients...

A healthy 11-year-old girl presented with exercise intolerance of unclear etiology, and her physical exam was notable for a 3/6 systolic ejection murmur at the left upper sternal border with radiation to the back. Extensive noninvasive workup consisted of ECG, transthoracic echocardiogram, and cardiac MRI/MRA, which were all nondiagnostic. She was ultimately referred for cardiac catheterization. Baseline invasive hemodynamics demonstrated a normal cardiac index and pulmonary vascular resistance but was notable for mildly elevated right and left end-diastolic pressures...

BACKGROUND: Acute myocarditis represents a challenging diagnosis as there is no pathognomonic clinical presentation. In patients with myocarditis, electrocardiogram (ECG) can display a variety of non-specific abnormalities. Nevertheless, ECG is widely used as an initial screening tool for myocarditis. METHODS: We researched all possible ECG alterations during acute myocarditis evaluating prevalence, physiopathology, correlation with clinical presentation patterns, role in differential diagnosis, and prognostic yield...

The diagnosis of pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) with changes shown by electrocardiography (ECG) is a challenge in the clinical practice due to rare pathognomonic findings. We report the case of a 37-year old woman managed in out of hospital sitting for a chest pain. Electrocardiogram was suggestive of antero-septal acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Catheterization revealed non occlusive coronary disease. Transthoracic echocardiography showed an elevated pulmonary and right heart pressures. Computed tomography pulmonary angiography confirmed the diagnosis of bilateral pulmonary embolism...

We reported a case of a young adult male aged 18 years admitted in our institution for syncope during a basketball match. No previous symptoms were reported. Electrocardiogram (ECG) showed T-wave inversion in the anterior leads and an incomplete right bundle branch block. Surprisingly, a complete echocardiographic evaluation demonstrated the presence of severe right ventricular enlargement with significant wall motion abnormalities, apical aneurysm and reduced systolic function. Cardiac Magnetic Resonance was pathognomonic for a fibro-fatty replacement of both ventricles...

BACKGROUND Acute chest pain is a common presentation in emergency departments worldwide. Ruling out acute coronary syndrome is essential in ensuring patient safety. Workup includes electrocardiogram (ECG) and cardiac biomarkers. Wellens syndrome is characterized by a history of chest pain, normal or minimally elevated biomarkers, no STEMI/Q-waves, and specific ECG changes. These changes consist of biphasic T waves in lead V2 and V3 or deep symmetrically inverted T waves in leads V1-V4. CASE REPORT A 55-year-old male presented to the emergency department with acute chest pain in a background of active smoking, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia...

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, also known as "broken heart syndrome," is a transient left ventricular dysfunction associated with stress (usually emotional) induced myocardial injury and stunning. It often presents as myocardial infarction on surface electrocardiogram (EKG). Diagnosis is made by coronary angiography, which rules out coronary artery disease and shows pathognomonic apical ballooning. In this article, we present a case of a 72-year-old woman who initially presented with an ST segment elevation myocardial infarction on EKG...

Hypothermia-induced J‑ or so-called Osborn waves can be detected under therapeutic hypothermia in approximately 20-40% of cases. The occurrence of J‑waves in the context of the targeted temperature management after cardiopulmonary resuscitation is characteristic, but not pathognomonic for hypothermia. An electrocardiographic diagnosis under hypothermia after cardiac arrest should always be done with caution due to the various hypothermia-associated electromechanical changes of the myocardium.

We describe a case of a 42-year-old man who presented to the emergency department with severe left-sided chest pain and chest tenderness of 1-day duration. The pain was episodic and was aggravated by any chest wall movement. His initial blood tests and ECG were suggestive of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, his pattern of pain, lack of response to opiates, raised creatine kinase and signs of pleurisy on chest radiograph raised a suspicion of an alternative diagnosis. The patient showed a dramatic response in pain relief to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Preparticipation screening programmes for underlying cardiac pathologies are now commonplace for many international sporting organisations. However, providing medical clearance for an asymptomatic athlete without a family history of sudden cardiac death (SCD) is especially challenging when the athlete demonstrates particularly abnormal repolarisation patterns, highly suggestive of an inherited cardiomyopathy or channelopathy. Deep T-wave inversions of ≥ 2 contiguous anterior or lateral leads (but not aVR, and III) are of major concern for sports cardiologists who advise referring team physicians, as these ECG alterations are a recognised manifestation of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC)...

BACKGROUND: In 1982, Wellens and colleagues described characteristic electrocardiogram (ECG) findings in angina patients virtually pathognomonic for significant stenosis of the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery and associated with a high risk of acute anterior wall myocardial infarction. CASE REPORT: We present the case of a 74-year-old emergency department patient with classic ECG findings of Wellens syndrome and progression to acute ST elevation within 55 min...

BACKGROUND: Brugada syndrome (BrS) is characterized by the presence of coved ST-segment elevations in the right precordial leads (so-called type I ECG) and additional clinical features. Caused by cardiac ion channel gene mutations, BrS may be associated with ventricular and atrial conduction disturbances as well as ventricular fibrillation. Recent studies have discussed whether BrS is merely a primary electric disorder or whether inflammatory or other histopathologic abnormalities in the right ventricle (RV) underlie the ECG phenotype...