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      Sudden cardiac death due to acute right heart failure in a patient with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia and acute myocardial infarction

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          Abstract

          A 40-year-old patient with toothache and shoulder pain for 10 days died without former known history of cardiac arrhythmias or myocardial infarction (MI) on sleep-related sudden cardiac death (SCD). The autopsy did not reveal signs for traumatic violence or intoxications nor for acute/chronic infections particularly of the upper aerodigestive tract. Furthermore, no aspects of endo-/myocarditis including negative results for cardiotropic virus were evident. In contrast, the right ventricular (RV) myocardium showed a diffuse replacement by fatty tissue (>70%) and dystrophy of cardiomyocytes (Panel A, arrows indicate endocardium), corresponding to an arrhythmogenic RV dysplasia (ARVD) with immunohistochemical up-regulation of the cytoskeleton protein desmin (Panel A, inset) and electronmicroscopic detection of abnormal desmosomes (Panel B, arrowheads and inset). Moreover, the proximal right coronary arteria showed an isolated high-grade stenosis (∼80%) with acute subtotal thrombotic obliteration (Panel C, inset histological image) resulting in acute MIs of subendocardial RV myocardium (Panel D, hypereosinophilic cardiomyocytes without nuclei). Since any signs of backward failure of the left ventricle such as lung oedema were lacking, we diagnosed an SCD due to acute RV failure in a patient with ARVD and acute MI. ARVD is behind hypertrophic concentric cardiomyopathy the major non-ischaemic cause for SCD in association with sports activity in young patients (age <40 years). Here, we describe, to our knowledge, the first case of an ARVD in combination with coronary heart disease/MIs, which might have triggered acute ventricular arrhythmias/failure independently from physical exertion and should be therefore considered for in vivo/autopsy investigations in family members of ARVD patients. Funding to pay the Open Access publication charges for this article was provided by the Wilhelm-Sander-Stiftung and the foundation Fight against Cancer.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          Eur Heart J
          eurheartj
          ehj
          European Heart Journal
          Oxford University Press
          0195-668X
          1522-9645
          September 2008
          4 April 2008
          4 April 2008
          : 29
          : 17
          : 2063
          Affiliations
          simpleInstitute of Pathology, University of Würzburg , Josef-Schneiderstr.2, Würzburg D-97080, Germany
          Author notes
          [* ]Corresponding author. Tel: +49 931 201 47420, Fax: +49 931 201 47440, Email: stefan.gattenloehner@ 123456mail.uni-wuerzburg.de
          Article
          ehn089
          10.1093/eurheartj/ehn089
          2519250
          18390871
          f5634bd3-2f23-4bab-b8cc-3cc8e71fc692
          Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2008. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

          The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal, Learned Society and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

          History
          Categories
          Clinical Vignettes

          Cardiovascular Medicine
          Cardiovascular Medicine

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