De Winter syndrome, a STEMI-equivalent ECG pattern leading to life-threatening arrhythmia: A case report from a non-cardiac catheterization laboratory hospital

Abstract

de Winter syndrome is a rare but important electrocardiographic pattern to recognize in patients presenting with chest pain. Under-recognition and delayed revascularization in patients with de Winter syndrome may lead to poor clinical outcomes. Despite increasing evidence of its association with total occlusion of the left anterior descending artery, the role of thrombolysis in the absence of percutaneous coronary intervention is not specifically addressed in recent international guidelines. Herein, we report a case of a 50-year-old gentleman with no known medical illness who presented with excruciating chest pain associated with diaphoresis, nausea, and reduced effort tolerance. Clinical examination revealed a distressed patient with bibasal crepitations with no other significant findings. The first ECG was sinus bradycardia with poor R-wave progression. ECG repeated 6 h later revealed de Winter syndrome. Within minutes, the patient developed sustained pulse ventricular tachycardia requiring synchronized cardioversion. The patient was intubated for impending cardiorespiratory failure. We took the pharmacoinvasive approach. The patient received thrombolytic therapy as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was not available and transferring to the nearest cardiac center was not possible within the therapeutic window. He was then subsequently transferred to the nearest cardiac center post thrombolysis for PCI. We report this case study to highlight the importance of recognizing this STEMI-equivalent ECG pattern in patients presenting with chest pain, and call for randomized control trials to evaluate the effectiveness of thrombolytic therapy as an alternative emergent reperfusion strategy in de Winter syndrome in non-cardiac centers.