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Course: An Elderly Woman With Ventricular Tachycardia

CME Credits: 1.00

Released: 2023-10-18

A woman in her 90s presented to the emergency department with symptoms of fever, hemoptysis, and syncopal episodes. She had a history of breast cancer and pulmonary nodules with biopsy findings negative for metastatic disease but positive for granulomatous inflammation. Initial vital signs included blood pressure of 103/66 mm Hg, heart rate of 190 bpm, and temperature of 38.7 °C. Electrocardiogram showed monomorphic ventricular tachycardia with a morphology suggesting right ventricular (RV) origin (). In addition to receiving intravenous amiodarone hydrochloride, she had correction of mild hypokalemia (3.1 mEq/L [reference range, 3.5-5.2 mEq/L]; to convert to mmol/L, multiply by 1.0). Successful arrhythmia termination occurred shortly thereafter, and her vital signs remained stable. Chest computed tomographic angiography excluded pulmonary embolism but showed pulmonary nodules and mediastinal lymphadenopathy that had progressed compared with her previous computed tomography. An echocardiogram showed severe RV and left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction with multiple areas of hypokinesis.


Educational Objective
Based on this clinical scenario and the accompanying image, understand how to arrive at a correct diagnosis.


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