Open AccessReversible bradycardia secondary to myxedema coma: case-report
Author(s) -
Omar Kousa,
Mohamed K. Mansour,
Dana Awad,
Amr Essa,
Abdallah Qasim,
Arindam Sharma,
Mark J. Holmberg
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
reviews in cardiovascular medicine
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.555
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 2153-8174
pISSN - 1530-6550
DOI - 10.31083/j.rcm.2020.02.26
Subject(s) - medicine , bradycardia , myxedema , sick sinus syndrome , sinus bradycardia , cardiology , tachycardia , coma (optics) , anesthesia , atrial fibrillation , heart rate , blood pressure , physics , thyroid , optics
Myxedema coma occurs mostly in patients with long-standing untreated or undertreated hypothyroidism. Bradycardia is a well-known cardiac manifestation for myxedema coma; however, not all bradycardia with hypothyroidism are sinus bradycardia. Sick sinus syndrome is a group of arrhythmias caused by the malfunction of the natural pacemaker of the heart. Tachy-Brady syndrome is considered to be a type of sick sinus syndrome, where the heart alternates between tachycardia and bradycardia, and it is usually treated with pacemaker implantation along with rate slowing medical therapy. Here we report a case of an 83-year-old female who presented with myxedema coma and atrial fibrillation with tachycardia and intermittent slow ventricular response. We attempt to review the relationship between these two diseases and conclude that appropriate diagnosis of myxedema coma, may be beneficial in reducing the need for pacemaker implantation.