Abstract
Bronchoscopy is a procedure that is widely performed and is generally considered to be safe. Cardiac complications occurring during bronchoscopy are uncommon, and usually occur in elderly patients with co-existent coronary artery disease, hypertension or severely impaired pulmonary function with resting hypoxemia. We report an unusual patient who developed sudden onset restlessness, chest discomfort, hypotension, global ST elevation in multiple ECG leads with acute severe left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction, during a bronchoscopic transbronchial lymph node biopsy procedure. Differential diagnosis included a massive myocardial infarction, apical ballooning (Tako-tsubo syndrome) or coronary vasospasm. The ECG changes resolved spontaneously and a coronary angiogram done later, revealed normal coronary artery anatomy and normal LV function. The patient made an uneventful recovery. It is important for physicians to be aware of such unusual complications to be able to appropriately manage these patients in clinical practice.
Footnotes
- Corresponding author Dr. Aditya Kapoor, Professor of Cardiology, Sanjay Gandhi PGIMS, Lucknow 226014, India, Fax: 91 0522 2668573, Email: akapoor65{at}gmail.com
No conflicts of interest
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