Acute Chest Pain and Electrical Alternans

Maria Inês Barradas; Fabiana Duarte; Inês Coutinho Dos Santos

doi:10.1016/j.jaccas.2023.102061

Acute Chest Pain and Electrical Alternans

JACC Case Rep. 2023 Oct 7:26:102061. doi: 10.1016/j.jaccas.2023.102061. eCollection 2023 Nov 15.

Authors

Maria Inês Barradas¹, Fabiana Duarte¹, Inês Coutinho Dos Santos¹

Affiliation

¹ Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo de Ponta Delgada, Avenida D. Manuel I, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Portugal.

Abstract

A young man presented with acute stabbing chest pain. A 12-lead electrocardiogram revealed electrical alternans with phasic variation of the QRS amplitude in all leads. Lung auscultation revealed absent left hemithorax breath sounds. Chest radiography confirmed a left-sided tension pneumothorax. Tension pneumothorax is a very rare cause for electrical alternans. (Level of Difficulty: Intermediate.).

Keywords: acute chest pain; electrical alternans; pneumothorax.