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Endgames Case Review

A progressively changing ECG

BMJ 2023; 381 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2022-073562 (Published 06 April 2023) Cite this as: BMJ 2023;381:e073562
  1. Bin Zhang, attending doctor1,
  2. Chia-Chen Chen, foundation doctor2,
  3. Zhao-Wei Yin, foundation doctor2,
  4. WenBiao Chen, attending doctor3
  1. 1Department of Cardiovascular Disease and Clinical Experimental Center, Jiangmen Central Hospital, Affiliated Jiangmen Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Jiangmen, China
  2. 2Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China
  3. 3Department of Respiratory Medicine, People’s Hospital of Longhua, The Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangdong, China
  1. Correspondence to W Chen chanwenbiao{at}sina.com

A woman in her 70s was admitted to the emergency department for non-radiating retrosternal dull chest pain, which started two hours after an argument. Her medical history included hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, type 2 diabetes, and no history of coronary artery disease. She was haemodynamically stable on arrival: blood pressure 105/65 mm Hg, heart rate 74 beats/min, and respiratory examination was unremarkable in outcome. A 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) showed sinus rhythm with non-specific ST-segment changes (fig 1). Troponin I was mildly elevated (0.618 ng/mL, normal range 0–0.1 ng/mL); N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) was 359 pg/mL (0–100 pg/mL); serum potassium was 4.0 mmol/L (3.5–5.5 mmol/L); and serum magnesium was 0.91 mmol/L (0.75–1.04 mmol/L). She was admitted to the coronary care unit for haemodynamic monitoring. Six hours later, when the chest pain subsided, the …

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