Jean Renkin | PubMed Health

PubMed2006

Electrocardiographic changes with segmental akinesia after chloral hydrate overdose.

We report a case of deliberate ingestion of 12.5 g chloral hydrate in a 25-year-old psychiatric patient. Coma and life-threatening ventricular dysrhythmias were observed soon after ingestion. Repeated electrocardiographic examination was consistent with ischemic changes appearing on day 3. They were associated with segmental abnormal left ventricular wall motion by echocardiography. A coronary angiogram was performed and was normal. Toxic metabolites of chloral hydrate, trichloroethanol and trichloroacetic acid were found in the urine until day 7. This case illustrates that with halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons, sustained changes in cardiac contractility may occur in addition to early life-threatening ventricular dysrhythmias.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Electrocardiographic changes after head trauma.

We report the case of a patient who developed, a few days after a closed head injury, marked electrocardiographic changes mimicking an acute coronary event, in the absence of actual cardiac damage. The electrocardiographic changes were fully reversible, paralleling the neurologic status. Neuroimaging examinations excluded subarachnoid hemorrhage or space-occupying hematoma, but demonstrated diffuse axonal injury using susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance techniques. This kind of traumatic brain injury thus may be responsible for a pseudo-acute myocardial ischemic syndrome.

Adult↗