A Slower Heart Rate and Therapeutic Hypothermia Unmasked Early Repolarization Syndrome in a Ventricular Fibrillation Survivor

Abstract

Patients presenting with aborted cardiac arrest who display early repolarization generally are diagnosed with early repolarization syndrome. Therapeutic hypothermia is a standard strategy to improve neurological outcome in comatose patients after cardiac arrest. We present here a patient in whom therapeutic hypothermia exacerbated the J-wave amplitude and morphology, which resulted in episodes of refractory ventricular fibrillation.