Cerebrogenic tachyarrhythmia in acute stroke

• Main Authors: A S Praveen Kumar, E Babu, D K Subrahmanyam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 2012-05-01
• Series: Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practice
• Subjects: atrial tachycardia; atrial fibrillation; insula; ischemic stroke; repolarization abnormality
• Online Access: http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.4103/0976-3147.98250

The electrocardiac abnormalities following acute stroke are frequent and seen in both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. The changes seen in electrocardiogram (ECG) consist of repolarization abnormalities such as ST elevation, ST depression, negative T waves, and QT prolongation. Among tachyarrhythmias, atrial fibrillation is the most common and occurrence of focal atrial tachycardia is very rare though any cardiac arrhythmias can follow acute stroke. We report a case of focal atrial tachycardia following acute ischemic stroke in 50-year-old female without structural heart disease, and their mechanisms and clinical implications.