title: Stable ventricular fibrillation in a heterotopic heart transplant recipient.
abstract: We present an unusual case of ventricular fibrillation in a conscious patient symptomatic for chest pain and shortness of breath. Almost 20 years ago he underwent heterotopic cardiac transplantation for the treatment of severe idiopathic cardiomyopathy. In the precyclosporine era, this technique was extremely useful because of the high rate of graft rejection in which the maintenance of the native heart could prevent patient death. To date, with the improvements in immunosuppressive therapy, it is generally reserved to a specific subset of conditions. A coronary angiography and a cardiac MRI confirmed the diagnosis. Six months follow-up ECG was unchanged suggesting the persistence of a double heart rhythm in the same body.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Maggiore della Carità Hospital, University of Eastern Piedmont, Novara, Italy. gioel.gabrio.secco@gmail.com
authors.forename: Gioel Gabrio
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Secco
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bortnik
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rognoni
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lupi
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cavallino
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Luca
authors.forename: Paolo Nicola
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Marino
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008297:Male; D016042:Transplantation, Heterotopic; D014693:Ventricular Fibrillation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology