Sinus node dysfunction occurs occasionally after heart transplantation and may be caused by surgical trauma, ischemia to the sinus node, rejection, drug therapy, and increasing donor age. However, the timing and indication of permanent pacemaker insertion due to sinus node dysfunction following heart transplantation is contentious. Here, we report a case of a permanent pacemaker insertion for syncope due to sinus arrest after heart transplantation, even with a bicaval technique, which has been known to associate with few incidences of sinus node dysfunction.
Adult ; *Heart Transplantation ; Humans ; Male ; *Pacemaker, Artificial ; Sinus Arrest, Cardiac

Carotid sinus hypersensitivity (CSH) is an exaggerated response to carotid sinus baroreceptor stimulation. Bradycardia, hypotension, and syncope are common manifestations of CSH. A 31-year-old female patient was scheduled for a robotically assisted endoscopic total thyroidectomy. No problems occurred during anesthetic induction. Sudden cardiac arrest occurred near dissection of the diseased thyroid. However, while atropine was administered, the patient soon recovered to normal sinus rhythm. Subsequent bradycardia or hypotension was not followed until the end of surgery.
Adult ; Atropine ; Bradycardia ; Carotid Sinus ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac ; Female ; Heart Arrest ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Hypotension ; Pressoreceptors ; Syncope ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroidectomy

PURPOSE: A maximum P-wave duration (Pmax) of > or = 110msec and a P-wave dispersion (PWD) > or = 40msec are accepted indicators of a disturbance in interatrial conduction and an inhomogeneous propagation of the sinus impulse, respectively. The left atrial (LA) volume has been reported to be strongly associated with a systolic and diastolic dysfunction and is considered to be an index of atrial remodeling. We aimed to investigate the relationship between LA volume and Pmax or PWD in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty-one patients with CHF were enrolled in this study. The study population was classified into four groups: two groups were divided according to the Pmax (> or = 110msec or < 110ms), and the other two groups were formed based on the PWD (> or = 40msec or < 40msec). The left atrial volume index (LAVi) was measured by three-dimensional (3-D) transthoracic echocardiography. The Pmax and PWD were measured from a 12-lead electrocardiogram. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the ejection fraction (EF), diastolic function, and LAVi between patients with a Pmax > or = 110ms or a PWD > or = 40ms and those with a Pmax < 110ms or a PWD < 40ms. The LAVi was independently associated with a disturbance in interatrial conduction and an inhomogeneous propagation of the sinus impulse. The LAVi can be used to identify patients with a disturbance in interatrial conduction and an inhomogeneous propagation of the sinus impulse with reasonably good accuracy. CONCLUSION: We concluded that a disturbance in interatrial conduction and an inhomogenous propagation of the sinus impulse in patients with CHF is associated with an increase in the LA volume and a deleterious systolic and diastolic dysfunction.
Aged ; *Atrial Function, Left ; *Cardiac Volume ; Echocardiography ; *Electrocardiography ; Female ; Heart Failure/*physiopathology/ultrasonography ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sinus Arrest, Cardiac/ultrasonography

Sick sinus syndrome (SSS) is an abnormality of sinus nodal impulse formation by intrinsic or extrinsic causes. Patients with SSS often are asymptomatic, or have mild or nonspecific symptoms, including dizziness, palpitations, fatigue, and confusion related to the decreased cardiac output. SSS can rarely cause conditions like syncope, congestive heart failure, thromboembolism, pulmonary edema, cardiac arrest, or sudden death. We report here on a severe bradycardia during general anesthesia for aneurysmal clipping and tachycardia-bradycardia syndrome followed by cardiac arrest postoperatively in the ICU, which was subsequently diagnosed as SSS with 24-hour Holter monitoring.
Anesthesia, General ; Aneurysm ; Bradycardia ; Cardiac Output ; Death, Sudden ; Dizziness ; Edema, Cardiac ; Electrocardiography, Ambulatory ; Fatigue ; Heart Arrest ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Pulmonary Embolism ; Sick Sinus Syndrome ; Syncope

A 35-year-old male patient with heart and renal failure and pneumonia was transferred to our department due to recurrent cardiac standstill with syncope. He had been diagnosed as and treated for MELAS (mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes) syndrome for the past 3 years. Electrocardiography (ECG) showed the Wolff-Parkinson-White pattern, and an echocardiogram showed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He developed syncopal attacks intermittently, and ECG monitoring showed intermittent bradycardia. His Holter monitoring showed several episodes of 5-16 seconds of sinus arrest. We conducted an electrophysiological study to evaluate the arrhythmia. During atrial and ventricular extra-stimuli, cardiac standstill developed several times, and the duration of pauses varied from 2.5 to 5.5 seconds. Abrupt asystolic events also developed accompanying syncopal attacks that were not related to the extra-stimuli. We decided to implant a permanent pacemaker. The patient's syncopal episodes disappeared after implantation of a DDD type pacemaker.
Acidosis, Lactic ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Bradycardia ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic ; Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane ; Electrocardiography ; Electrocardiography, Ambulatory ; Heart ; Humans ; Male ; MELAS Syndrome ; Muscular Diseases ; Pacemaker, Artificial ; Pneumonia ; Renal Insufficiency ; Sinus Arrest, Cardiac ; Syncope

BACKGROUND: In sudden cardiac arrest, the effective maintenance of coronary artery blood flow is of paramount importance for myocardial preservation as well as cardiac recovery and patient survival. The purpose of this study was to directly compare the effects of pulsatile and non-pulsatile circulation to coronary artery flow and myocardial preservation in cardiac arrest condition. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A cardiopulmonary bypass circuit was constructed in a ventricular fibrillation model using fourteen Yorkshire swine weighing 25~35 kg each. The animals were randomly assigned to group I (n=7, non-pulsatile centrifugal pump) or group II (n=7, pulsatile T-PLS pump). Extracorporeal circulation was maintained for two hours at a pump flow of 2 L/min. The left anterior descending coronary artery flow was measured with an ultrasonic coronary artery flow measurement system at baseline (before bypass) and at every 20 minutes after bypass. Serologic parameters were collected simultaneously at baseline, 1 hour, and 2 hours after bypass in the coronary sinus venous blood. The Mann-Whitney U test of STATISTICA 6.0 was used to determine intergroup significances using a p value of <0.05. RESULT: The resistance index of the coronary artery was lower in group II and the difference was significant at 40 min, 80 min, 100 min and 120 min (p <0.05). The mean velocity of the coronary artery was higher in group II throughout the study, and the difference was significant from 20 min after starting the pump (p <0.05). The coronary artery blood flow was higher in group II throughout the study, and the difference was significant from 40 min to 120 min (p <0.05) except at 80 min. Serologic parameters showed no differences between the groups at 1 hour and 2 hours after bypass in the coronary sinus blood. CONCLUSION: In cardiac arrest condition, pulsatile extracorporeal circulation provides more blood flow, higher flow velocity and less resistance to coronary artery than non-pulsatile circulation.
Animals ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass ; Coronary Sinus ; Coronary Vessels* ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac ; Extracorporeal Circulation* ; Heart Arrest ; Humans ; Pulsatile Flow ; Regional Blood Flow ; Swine ; Ultrasonics ; Ventricular Fibrillation

sociated with hyperthyroidism occurs in 2.0% of Graves disease and is characterized by myasthenia or bilateral flaccid paralysis of lower extremity, in some cases, it may be accompanied with cardiac arrhythmias which are mostly due to hypokalemia. The most common type of cardiac arrhythmias associated with hyperthyroidism is sinus tachycardia, 1015% of patients have atrial fibrillation. Rarely, ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation develop and lead to cardiac arrest in severe case. A 26-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of weakness of lower extremity. The initial EKG showed ventricular tachycardia. The laboratory results were, TSH 0.08 microunit/mL, free T4 4.11 ng/mL, T3 2.88 ng/mL, serum K 1.9 mEq/L. He was diagnosed as ventricular tachycardia associated with hypokalemic thyrotoxic periodic paralysis. His symptoms improved during the treatment with propylthiouracil and potassium replacement. We report a case of thyrotoxic periodic paralysis presenting as ventricular tachycardia with brief review of literatures.
Adult ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Atrial Fibrillation ; Electrocardiography ; Graves Disease ; Heart Arrest ; Humans ; Hyperthyroidism ; Hypokalemia ; Lower Extremity ; Paralysis* ; Potassium ; Propylthiouracil ; Tachycardia, Sinus ; Tachycardia, Ventricular* ; Ventricular Fibrillation

Hysteroscopy is an established gynecologic procedure that has been used for the past 20 years as a diagnostic technique. It is also used therapeutically. Hysteroscopy is commonly performed with CO2insufflation and its complications are rare. The sudden decrease of end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide, associated with mill-wheel murmur, loss of cardiac output and sinus tachycardia on the ECG are highly suggestive of massive gas embolism during laparoscopy and hysteroscopy. We report 2 cases of cardiac arrest and severe bradycardia. The second patient's expired CO2 concentration fell rapidly to 7 mmHg and blood pressure and heart rate dropped suddenly after resection of the uterine septum and adhesiolysis. We performed cardiac resuscitation with cardiotonic drugs, cardiac compression, defibrillator and resulted in good recovery. At the time of discharge 10 days and 2 days later, the patients had recovered almost completely.
Blood Pressure ; Bradycardia ; Carbon Dioxide ; Cardiac Output ; Cardiotonic Agents ; Defibrillators ; Electrocardiography ; Embolism, Air ; Endoscopy* ; Heart Arrest ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hysteroscopy ; Laparoscopy ; Partial Pressure ; Resuscitation ; Tachycardia, Sinus

A 55-year-old man underwent a posterior decompression and fusion under general anesthesia. Near the end of the operation, the pressure waveform from the radial artery became flat, and his oxygen level could not be measured using pulse oximetry. Palpation of the carotid artery revealed no heart rate, and ventricular asystole was diagnosed. The patient was given cardiovascular drugs, but his hemodynamic status deteriorated, leading to severe hypotension, with sinus bradycardia, sinus tachycardia, sinus arrest, and paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia. The patient had hypothermia based on an axillary temperature of 31.9degrees C. After active warming, his cardiovascular status stabilized.
Anesthesia, General ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Bradycardia ; Cardiovascular Agents ; Carotid Arteries ; Decompression ; Heart Arrest ; Heart Rate ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Hypothermia ; Middle Aged ; Oximetry ; Oxygen ; Palpation ; Radial Artery ; Tachycardia, Sinus ; Tachycardia, Supraventricular