"The Spiked Helmet sign": A harbinger of impending barotrauma

Heart Lung. 2023 Jan-Feb:57:203-206. doi: 10.1016/j.hrtlng.2022.09.022. Epub 2022 Oct 13.

Abstract

The 'spiked helmet sign' (SHS) is an electrocardiographic finding associated with critical illness and a high risk of death; It is likened to ST-elevation, leading to harmful coronary imaging despite lack of apparent myocardial infarction. We describe the case of SHS secondary to high ventilation pressures in the setting of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) in a critically ill patient who subsequently developed barotrauma.

Keywords: Critical illness; Electrocardiogram; Myocardial infarction; ST – elevation; Spiked helmet sign.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Arrhythmias, Cardiac
  • Barotrauma* / complications
  • Barotrauma* / diagnosis
  • Critical Illness
  • Electrocardiography
  • Head Protective Devices
  • Humans
  • Myocardial Infarction*