The Worst-Case Scenario of Electrolytes Imbalance, Cardiac Arrest, and Acquired Prolonged QT Interval: A Case Report and Literature Review

Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is the prolongation of QT interval in the electrocardiogram; it is usually classified as congenital or acquired. It is a life-threatening condition that could lead to malignant ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrest. The most common causes for Acquired Long QT syndrome are medications like anti-arrhythmic, electrolyte imbalance, or endocrine disorders. Therefore, any patient having one of these conditions should be monitored carefully to prevent deleterious consequences. The central management for acquired LQTS is the correction of the underlying cause. However, recent studies showed that implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) could be helpful in the secondary prevention of such patients. Here we report a case of cardiac arrest due to acquired prolonged QT interval secondary to endocrine disorder and electrolytes imbalance.

Keywords:QT prolongation; Electrolytes imbalance; Cardiac arrest