Young patient presenting with cardiogenic shock and refractory ventricular tachycardia: a case of unsuspected arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy leading to urgent heart transplantation.

Abstract

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy is an important differential diagnosis in young patients presenting with palpitations and/or dyspnea and must be appropriately investigated. A 23-year-old man presented with cardiogenic shock and monomorphic ventricular tachycardia. He reported palpitations and progressive dyspnea for more than two years, but those symptoms were attributed to anxiety without any further investigation by his family physician. Investigations after the catastrophic presentation in our center suggested terminal right-sided heart failure with severe hepatic insufficiency and acute kidney injury. The patient benefited from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, followed by an urgent heart transplant 16 days later after the exclusion of liver cirrhosis. Histopathologic analysis of the explanted heart confirmed arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy.