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Query: UMLS:C0036572 (seizures)
 80,221 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Stress (Takotsubo) cardiomyopathy is a form of reversible left ventricular dysfunction with a heightened risk of ventricular arrhythmia thought to be caused by high circulating catecholamines. We report a case of stress cardiomyopathy that developed during severe alcohol withdrawal successfully treated with dexmedetomidine. The case involves a 53-year-old man with a significant history of alcohol abuse who presented to a teaching hospital with new-onset seizures. His symptoms of acute alcohol withdrawal were initially treated with benzodiazepines, but the patient later developed hypotension, and stress cardiomyopathy was suspected based on ECG and echocardiographic findings. Adjunctive treatment with the alpha-2-adrenergic agonist, dexmedetomidine, was initiated to curtail excessive sympathetic outflow of the withdrawal syndrome, thereby targeting the presumed pathophysiology of the cardiomyopathy. Significant clinical improvement was observed within one day of initiation of dexmedetomidine. These findings are consistent with other reports suggesting that sympathetic dysregulation during alcohol withdrawal produces ideal pathobiology for stress cardiomyopathy and leads to ventricular arrhythmogenicity. Stress cardiomyopathy should be recognized as a complication of alcohol withdrawal that significantly increases cardiac-related mortality. By helping to correct autonomic dysregulation of the withdrawal syndrome, dexmedetomidine may be useful in the treatment of stress-induced cardiomyopathy.
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PMID:Adrenergic Inhibition with Dexmedetomidine to Treat Stress Cardiomyopathy during Alcohol Withdrawal: A Case Report and Literature Review. 2700 38

BACKGROUND Stress cardiomyopathy (SCM) is a transient dysfunction of the left ventricle due to physical or emotional triggers that produces a range of electrocardiogram (ECG) changes. While ST-segment elevation or depression often leads to more urgent investigation and diagnosis, T-wave inversions can result in delayed diagnosis. CASE REPORT A 44-year-old woman with a prior left middle cerebral artery septic embolic stroke from endocarditis resulting in residual dense right sided hemiparesis and aphasia was admitted to the hospital for treatment of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. While hospitalized, she experienced a generalized seizure that was aborted with lorazepam and then loaded with phenytoin. Her ECG following the seizure showed a prolonged QT interval, for which her methadone that she was stabilized on during hospitalization was held. Her ECG to follow-up on her QT interval 25 h following the seizure showed new diffuse symmetric deep T-wave inversions. While initially believed to be due to the either the discontinuation of methadone or initiation of phenytoin, retrospective analysis revealed that these changes were more suggestive of a missed SCM. CONCLUSIONS We report a patient who experienced a generalized seizure resulting in diffuse, symmetric, deep T-wave inversions that were incorrectly attributed to medication effects before identifying the likely diagnosis of SCM. Fortunately for this patient, there were no consequences of the delayed diagnosis, but this case emphasises the importance of considering SCM following a generalized seizure in any patient with ECG abnormalities.
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PMID:Diffuse Deep T-Wave Inversions Following a Generalized Seizure. 3165 24