Chest
Clinical InvestigationsEchocardiographic Observations in Survivors of Acute Electrical Injury
Section snippets
CASE REPORTS
case 1
A 25-year-old previously well man lost consciousness when he touched an electrical wire. At least ten minutes elapsed before cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was initiated. On arrival at the hospital he was successfully defibrillated after several DC countershocks but he never regained consciousness. Although physical examination subsequently revealed stable vital signs and normal results of cardiac examination, findings from neurologic examination and diagnostic testing were
DISCUSSION
There is little information available concerning the cardiac sequelae in survivors of electrical shock. Electrocardiographic patterns typical of acute myocardial infarction have been reported immediately after resuscitation,1, 2, 3, 4, 5 but it has been suggested that in long-term survivors these resolve completely.1, 2, 3, 4 To our knowledge, only one previous report has provided any direct information concerning cardiac function in such patients.3 Lewin et al3 reported the noninvasive cardiac
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to thank Dr. Marc Schoenfeld, who coordinated case 1, and Dr. Jim Southern, who provided the interpretation of the autopsy data on case 2.
REFERENCES (6)
Electrocardiographic changes in lightning stroke
Am Heart J
(1966)- et al.
The cardiac effects of lightning injury
S Afr Med J
(1966) - et al.
Lightning and the heart
Br Heart J
(1980)
Cited by (0)
Supported in part by National Institutes of Health Training Grant No. ROI-HL07535-4.
Manuscript received June 12; revision accepted July 31.