Supraventricular Arrhythmia Induction by an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator in a Patient with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Abstract

A 23-year-old woman with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and history of frequent unexplained syncope had undergone implantable cardioverter defibrillator implantation. She had experienced frequent inappropriate shocks since implantation due to T-wave oversensing. After one of the syncopal attacks, she was found to have an atrioventricular (AV)-reentrant tachycardia, induced by a high-voltage shock, with rapid degeneration to atrial fibrillation and then ventricular fibrillation. The AV-reentrant tachycardia was believed to be the cause of both syncopal attacks and inappropriate shocks. The patient has been asymptomatic after ablation of the accessory pathway. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of induction of an AV-reentrant tachycardia by a high-voltage implantable cardioverter defibrillator shock. (PACE 2010; 33:372-376)