ECG showed heart attack- he just swallowed a battery
It is common to come across cases of ingestion of foreign bodies by children and battery ingestion by kids is a common ocurrence. But most reports of battery ingestion describe swallowing by children, who are more likely to ingest button batteries than cylindrical batteries.
Researchers from San Giovanni di Dio Hospital, Florence, Italy have reported a rare case of ingestion of a single AA battery that led to electrocardiographic (ECG) findings consistent with acute ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction in a 26-year-old prison inmate.The case has been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
In the instant case Ingestion of a single AA battery sparked a reaction that mimicked myocardial infarction on an electrocardiogram (ECG) in an adult male patient. This effect had previously only been seen in persons who swallowed several batteries.
The researchers describe the case of a 26-year-old male prison inmate who visited their emergency department for abdominal discomfort after deliberately swallowing a single battery 2 hours earlier.The man presented to the emergency department with abdominal discomfort after intentionally swallowing the battery. He did not have myocardial infarction symptoms, his cardiac troponin levels were normal, and he showed no cardiac wall motion alterations or pericardial effusion on echocardiography.
The patient had no history of cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular risk factors, except cigarette smoking, but his ECG revealed ST-segment elevation consistent with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction. He did not report any symptoms related to acute myocardial infarction, his serum troponin levels were within normal range, and his transthoracic ECG did not show alterations in cardiac wall motion or pericardial effusion.
The clinicians removed the battery during endoscopy and all ECG abnormalities disappeared. The man presented to the emergency department with abdominal discomfort after intentionally swallowing the battery. He did not have myocardial infarction symptoms, his cardiac troponin levels were normal, and he showed no cardiac wall motion alterations or pericardial effusion on echocardiography. The battery was removed via endoscopy, and all ECG abnormalities resolved.
Although the mechanism for this effect has not been established, the authors believe that a battery's entry into the acid contents of the stomach might facilitate an electric current that travels to the inferior portions of the heart, where it can be detected by an ECG.
The authors note that such ECG changes have previously been reported in people who've swallowed multiple batteries. They speculate that "a battery's entry into the acid contents of the stomach might facilitate an electric current that travels to the inferior portions of the heart, where it can be detected by an ECG."
The first report of battery ingestion have been identified and was published in 1987.The case described a 38-year-old woman with paranoid schizophrenia who swallowed 5 AA batteries . Because of artifacts, an electrocardiogram (ECG) could not be obtained until the batteries were surgically removed. The same patient had previously ingested a single battery without showing ECG effects.
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