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Ghazal Asswad A, Holm S, Engström O, Huss F, Lipcsey M, Rudolph A. Delayed, Unprovoked, Hemodynamic Collapse with Following Asystole in a Pediatric Patient Following a High-Voltage Injury: A Case Report and Literature Review. Pediatr Cardiol 2022; 43:1163-1168. [PMID: 35137275 DOI: 10.1007/s00246-022-02838-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Electrical incidents are common and mostly uneventful, though can be severe and sometimes lethal. Aside from skin, muscle and soft tissue damage, electrical injuries can cause cardiac arrhythmias, the most common cardiac complication. The case of a 14-year-old girl who sustained 48.5% TBSA burns following a high-voltage electrical injury is described. She suffered five episodes of asystole 78 h following the injury, requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. The cause of the delayed asystole was investigated and a PubMed literature search was conducted to explore late presenting cardiac sequelae following electrical injuries. This yielded fifteen studies, identified as relevant, of high quality and in the English language. These studies included a total of 1411 patients of whom only 3 were found to have had late potentially lethal arrhythmias, all manifesting within the first 24 h after the injury. Of these patients, 32 suffered cardiac arrests shortly after the electrical injury, 11 of which were documented as asystolic arrests though these were all from a single study with the rural locale and prolonged delay in arrival to the hospital setting contributing to this finding. To our knowledge, this is the only pediatric cardiac arrest developing in a stable patient over 72 h following the initial electrical injury. No other patient has suffered any significant cardiac complications first presenting outside the initial 24-h period following the electrical injury. Guidelines and recommendations on post electrical injury observation of patient vary and further research into this field is required to allow for guidance unification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amjad Ghazal Asswad
- Cardiology Department, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Freeman Rd, High Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE7 7DN, UK.
| | - Sebastian Holm
- Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, Burn Centre, Uppsala University Hospital, 751 85, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Olof Engström
- Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, Burn Centre, Uppsala University Hospital, 751 85, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Fredrik Huss
- Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, Burn Centre, Uppsala University Hospital, 751 85, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Plastic Surgery, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Miklos Lipcsey
- Hedenstierna Laboratory, Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Department of Surgical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - André Rudolph
- Pediatric Heart Center Stockholm-Uppsala, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
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Gille J, Schmidt T, Dragu A, Emich D, Hilbert-Carius P, Kremer T, Raff T, Reichelt B, Siafliakis A, Siemers F, Steen M, Struck MF. Electrical injury - a dual center analysis of patient characteristics, therapeutic specifics and outcome predictors. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med 2018; 26:43. [PMID: 29855384 PMCID: PMC5984367 DOI: 10.1186/s13049-018-0513-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2018] [Accepted: 05/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Electrical injuries represent life-threatening emergencies. Evidence on differences between high (HVI) and low voltage injuries (LVI) regarding characteristics at presentation, rhabdomyolysis markers, surgical and intensive burn care and outcomes is scarce. METHODS Consecutive patients admitted to two burn centers for electrical injuries over an 18-year period (1998-2015) were evaluated. Analysis included comparisons of HVI vs. LVI regarding demographic data, diagnostic and treatment specific variables, particularly serum creatinine kinase (CK) and myoglobin levels over the course of 4 post injury days (PID), and outcomes. RESULTS Of 4075 patients, 162 patients (3.9%) with electrical injury were analyzed. A total of 82 patients (50.6%) were observed with HVI. These patients were younger, had considerably higher morbidity and mortality, and required more extensive burn surgery and more complex burn intensive care than patients with LVI. Admission CK and myoglobin levels correlated significantly with HVI, burn size, ventilator days, surgical interventions, amputation, flap surgery, renal replacement therapy, sepsis, and mortality. The highest serum levels were observed at PID 1 (myoglobin) and PID 2 (CK). In 23 patients (14.2%), cardiac arrhythmias were observed; only 4 of these arrhythmias occurred after hospital admission. The independent predictors of mortality were ventilator days (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.06-1.51, p = 0.009), number of surgical interventions (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.27-0.834, p = 0.010) and limb amputations (OR 14.26, 95% CI 1.26-162.1, p = 0.032). CONCLUSIONS Patients with electrical injuries, HVI in particular, are at high risk for severe complications. Due to the need for highly specialized surgery and intensive care, treatment should be reserved to burn units. Serum myoglobin and CK levels reflect the severity of injury and may predict a more complex clinical course. Routine cardiac monitoring > 24 h post injury does not seem to be necessary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jochen Gille
- Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, St. Georg Hospital, Delitzscher Str. 141, 04129, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Thomas Schmidt
- Department of Medical Psychology, Bergmannstrost Hospital, Merseburger Str. 165, 06112, Halle, Germany
| | - Adrian Dragu
- Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, Burn Center, St. Georg Hospital, Delitzscher Str. 141, 04129, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University Center of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Dimitri Emich
- Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, St. Georg Hospital, Delitzscher Str. 141, 04129, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Peter Hilbert-Carius
- Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, Bergmannstrost Hospital, Merseburger Str. 165, 06112, Halle, Germany
| | - Thomas Kremer
- Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, Burn Center, St. Georg Hospital, Delitzscher Str. 141, 04129, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Thomas Raff
- Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, Burn Center, St. Georg Hospital, Delitzscher Str. 141, 04129, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Beate Reichelt
- Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, Burn Center, Bergmannstrost Hospital, Merseburger Str. 165, 06112, Halle, Germany
| | - Apostolos Siafliakis
- Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, Burn Center, Bergmannstrost Hospital, Merseburger Str. 165, 06112, Halle, Germany
| | - Frank Siemers
- Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, Burn Center, Bergmannstrost Hospital, Merseburger Str. 165, 06112, Halle, Germany
| | - Michael Steen
- Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, Burn Center, Bergmannstrost Hospital, Merseburger Str. 165, 06112, Halle, Germany
| | - Manuel F Struck
- Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, Burn Center, Bergmannstrost Hospital, Merseburger Str. 165, 06112, Halle, Germany. .,Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Leipzig, Liebigstr. 20, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
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Abstract
This article reviews the unique challenges presented by chemical, electrical, and radiation injuries. The authors discuss pathophysiology and diagnosis of these injuries and provide recommendations for management.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - David A Brown
- Duke University School of Medicine, 8 Duke University Medical Center Greenspace, Durham, NC 27703, USA
| | - Benjamin Levi
- Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Michigan School of Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
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Functional changes of the myocardium in survivors of high-voltage electrical injury. Crit Care 2013; 17:R26. [PMID: 23388054 PMCID: PMC4057466 DOI: 10.1186/cc12506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2012] [Accepted: 01/24/2013] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction There are limited long-term follow-up data on functional changes in the myocardium after high-voltage electrical injury (HVEI). Methods Twenty-three patients who had been exposed to HVEI (>20,000 volts) and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (≥55%) were enrolled in the study. Echocardiographic parameters, including peak systolic strain (S) and strain rate (SR), were evaluated at baseline, six weeks and six months later. These data were compared with a healthy control group who were matched in terms of age, sex and body mass index. Results The systolic and diastolic blood pressure and the heart rate were significantly higher in the HVEI group compared with the control group at baseline and at six weeks, but not at the six-month follow-up. Conventional echocardiographic data showed no differences between the groups during the study period. In contrast to the S, the baseline and six weeks, SR was significantly increased in the HVEI group compared with the control group. However, at the six-month follow-up, there was no difference in the SR between the groups. Among the 23 patients with HVEI, 17 of the patients had vertical current injury, and 6 patients had horizontal current injury. There was no difference in terms of the conventional echocardiography, S and SR between the patients with vertical injury and those with horizontal injury at baseline and at the six-month follow-up. Conclusions The long-term contractile performance of the myocardium is preserved when patient do not experience left ventricular dysfunction in the early stages after HVEI.
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