Open AccessA rare case of acute alcohol intoxication mimicking an electrocardiographic pattern for acute coronary syndrome with ST-segment elevation
Author(s) -
Franco Lai,
Lorenzo Pelagatti,
Chiara Pagnini,
Alessio Baldini,
Daniele Versari,
Simone Magazzini
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
emergency care journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2282-2054
pISSN - 1826-9826
DOI - 10.4081/ecj.2020.8596
Subject(s) - medicine , acute coronary syndrome , cardiology , st elevation , contractility , st segment , emergency department , pathophysiology , benign early repolarization , electrocardiography , myocardial infarction , psychiatry
A patient presenting an ST-segment elevation could represent a life-threatening condition in Emergency Department (ED). This case shows how sometimes, a chronic, and more often, an acute abuse of alcohol is related to important harmful effects on myocardial contractility. The authors present a case of a 19-year-old male of oriental-Asiatic origin admitted unconscious to ED with alcoholic fetor: on electrocardiogram a significant and widespread STsegment elevation was observed. A bedside echocardiography showed no abnormalities in segmental kinetics; therefore electrocardiogram- alterations could be related to a coronary spasm. The literature is poor about this effect induced by acute alcohol ingestion: the pathophysiological mechanism at the base of the abnormal muscle contractility, seems to be related to an impairment in cyclic guanosine monophosphate production, although a second and less probable hypothesis could be an altered intracellular concentration of calcium levels.