Favale S, Di Biase M, Rizzo U, Minafra F, Rizzon P
Division of Cardiology, University of Bari, Italy.
Eur Heart J. 1987 Aug;8(8):912-6. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.eurheartj.a062358.
Sudden death is a rather frequent occurrence in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, yet the mechanism is uncertain in most cases. We describe a case of an 18 years old patient with a family history of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and sudden death in whom ventricular fibrillation could be repeatedly induced by means of transesophageal atrial stimulation with 1:1 AV conduction at a rate of 200 beats min-1 and prevented by pharmacological depression of AV node. The not particularly high ventricular rate at which VF occurred could suggest that in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy a major role in favouring VF induction is played by the electrophysiological properties of the myocardium and that sudden death can occur as a consequence of different atrial tachyarrhythmias.
