title: Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation in a patient with atrial standstill.
abstract: We report a 55-year-old female patient who presented with no P waves but with a wide QRS complex escape rhythm at 44 beats/min and prolonged QTc of 0.55 seconds on ECG. The patient had recurrence of ventricular fibrillations and loss of consciousness, and underwent defibrillation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) several times because of cardiac arrest. The transthoracic echocardiography showed dilated cardiomyopathy and enlargement of both atria. The Doppler echocardiography documented the absence of A wave in the tricuspid and mitral valve flow. An electrophysiologic study demonstrated electrical inactivity in the right and left atria. Atrial pacing with maximum output did not capture the atria. These findings together with her electrocardiographic finding indicated atrial standstill. Sudden cardiac death was her first clinical manifestation of ventricular arrhythmia. The patient remained asymptomatic after receiving a single chamber implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) with VVI pacemaker function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju, Korea.
authors.forename: So Ra
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Choong Hwan
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kwak
authors.forename: Young Ran
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Myung Ki
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Min Kyung
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Jung Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Yeon Jeong
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Jin Yong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Hwang
mesh_terms: D001919:Bradycardia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000628:therapy*; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac; D017147:Defibrillators, Implantable; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D014693:Ventricular Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy