ECG Case of the Month: Heart Failure in a Man from Chile.

A 49-year-old man visiting New Orleans from Chile comes to the hospital complaining of exertional dyspnea for 2 months with the more recent onset of ankle edema. He is a slender man with a blood pressure of 91/60 mmHg, crackles at both lung bases, and markedly distended neck veins. His cardiac rhythm is irregular. A soft murmur of mitral regurgitation and a soft S-3 are heard at the left ventricular apex. All four pedal pulses are easily palpable. Epigastric tenderness is noted on palpation; although the patient has a history of peptic ulcer disease, the tenderness is probably due to an enlarged left lobe of his liver, the result of hepatic congestion from his heart failure. A chest radiograph shows generalized cardiomegaly with an especially large left ventricle. Pulmonary congestion and small bilateral pleural effusions also are noted. The Figure shows the electrocardiogram recorded on admission.

ECG of the month. Irregular rhythm in a 25-year-old man with three prior cardiac operations. Coarse atrial fibrillation with a rapid ventricular response, left anterior fascicular block, left ventricular hypertrophy with repolarization abnormality.

The patient underwent closure of an atrial septal defect at age 3, had a leaking "mitral" valve repaired at age 9, and at age 13 had a "mitral" valve replacement. He began taking warfarin sodium at that time and remained symptom-free until 10 days before his initial visit here when he presented to another hospital with dyspnea and palpitations. Treatment there consisted of lisinopril 10 mg qd, carvedilol 6.25 mg bid, aldactone 25 mg qd, furosemide 40 mg qd, digoxin 0.25 mg qd, and a continuation of warfarin sodium 7.5 mg qd. An echocardiogram showed a left ventricular ejection fraction of 20%. After diuresis, he was referred to our cardiology clinic. On his initial visit here, his heart rate was an irregular 120 beats/min, his blood pressure was 106/77 mmHg, and closing and opening snaps of a normally functioning mechanical mitral valvular prosthesis were heard. He was obese (height, 5' 9"; weight, 272 lbs). An electrocardiogram was recorded (Figure 1).

Ecg of the month. Unusual electrocardiogram 42 years after operation for supravalvular aortic stenosis and 6 years after aortic valve replacement. Sinus rhythm with first degree atrioventricular block.

A 43-year-old man came to the hospital because of increasing dyspnea for two weeks. At age nine months the patient was evaluated for failure to thrive, and a diagnosis of valvular aortic stenosis was made. At operation the aortic stenosis was found to be supravalvular, and the ascending aorta was enlarged with a Teflon patch, the proximal end of which was placed in the noncoronary sinus of Valsalva. The aortic valve was bicuspid but otherwise appeared normal. Postoperatively the patient did well until six years ago when he developed increasing dyspnea on exertion, orthopnea, and paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea. Echocardiography revealed a peak systolic pressure gradient across the aortic valve of 80 mmHg, severe aortic regurgitation, and moderate mitral regurgitation thought to be functional. Coronary arteriograms were normal. The patient underwent aortic valve replacement with a 23 mm Hancock 2 porcine heterograft prosthesis. He again did well postoperatively until a year before the current admission when dyspnea on exertion developed and culminated in two weeks of severe orthopnea and paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea. The electrocardiogram (ECG) recorded on admission is shown in the Figure.

Double-Chambered Right Ventricle in a 49-Year-Old Man.

Most patients with double-chambered right ventricles are diagnosed in childhood, but some escape definitive diagnosis until adulthood, as was the case in the patient described here.

Bradycardia, Syncope, and Left Ventricular Noncompaction Cardiomyopathy.

A 55-year-old man with syncopal episodes was found to have sinus bradycardia at a rate of 37 beats/min, an episode of nonsustained ventricular tachycardia, and left ventricular noncompaction cardiomyopathy. After placement of a dual-chamber cardioverter defibrillator 4 years ago, he has had no further syncopal episodes, and there have been no defibrillator shocks.

Electrocardiograms in a Woman With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

A woman with systemic lupus erythematosus and a regular supraventricular tachycardia continues to have electrocardiographic abnormalities after the spontaneous return of normal sinus rhythm.

Right coronary artery arising from the pulmonary trunk in a 63-year-old man.

Unlike anomalous origin of the left coronary artery (CA) from the pulmonary trunk (PT), right CA from the PT, a rare congenital malformation, may present in adulthood. We herein describe a man with anomalous origin of the right CA from the PT who presented with angina and syncope at age 63.