Syndrome of Long QTc and Malignant Ventricular Tachyarr-hythmia in a Female Patient with Subarachnoidal Haemorrhage

Overview

In the submitted case-history the authors describe the case of a young female with subarach-noidal haemorrhage and confirmed ventricular fibrillation with signs of a prolonged QTcinterval on the ECG and persistent episodes of intermittent polymorphous ventricular tachy-cardias of the Torsade de Pointes type. Retrospective analysis revealed that the patient hadsuffered from the long QTc syndrome already prior to cerebral haemorrhage, the latter,however, had a considerable impact on the syndrome. Unfortunately the authors are unable tocharacterise the prolongation of QTc (congenital or acquired).The authors discuss contemporary knowledge of the influence of a reduced potassium serumlevel and prolonged QTc.

Key words:
syndrome of long QTc - malignant ventricular tachyarrhythmia - subarachnoidalhaemorrhage.