Utilizing Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Elucidate the Etiology of Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

Journal: Internal Medicine (Tokyo, Japan)
Published:
Abstract

There is a lack of established methods to explore the etiology of sudden cardiac arrest. We herein report sudden cardiac arrest as pulseless electrical activity in a young woman triggered by coronary artery spasm. There were no health issues except for situs inversus totalis, but the patient experienced sudden cardiac arrest after suffering chest pain. ST-segment depression was observed in leads V3-V6 on electrocardiography. However, urgent angiography did not reveal any coronary stenosis. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging revealed myocardial edema localized to the inferior and posterior segments without evidence of late gadolinium enhancement. Additionally, a provocation test with acetylcholine confirmed a coronary artery spasm. Inexplicable sudden cardiac arrest may result in missing the chance to detect hidden cardiac disease. Cardiac MRI may help to elucidate the etiology of sudden cardiac arrest.

Authors
Yuta Takano, Akira Taruya, Shingo Ota, Yasutsugu Shiono, Hironori Kitabata, Toshikazu Hashizume, Atsushi Tanaka