An Unusual Cause of Concordance in the Setting of Left Bundle Branch Block

Abstract

A 73-year-old female with a past medical history of atrial fibrillation, mechanical mitral valve replacement on warfarin, hypertension and hypothyroidism presented to the emergency department with a fall. She fell and hit her head upon standing up from a seated position. She reported a constant posteriorly located headache along with episodes of nausea and vomiting. She denied chest pain, shortness of breath, syncope and fever. The initial examination showed blood pressure of 107/64mmHg, respiratory rate of 13/Min, pulse of 76/Min, oxygen saturation of 96% and Glascow Coma Scale (GCS) of 13, verbal response 4, motor response 6 and eye response 3. Pupils were round and reactive to light. No focal weakness or sensory loss were noted. The patient’s mental status and GCS progressively worsened for which she eventually was intubated. The patient had a mild leukocytosis of 14.11×109 (4.0-10.0). Her sodium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium were normal. International Normalized Ratio (INR) was 2.9. The troponin upon presentation was 0.69ng/ml and trended down throughout the hospitalization. Her EKG showed normal sinus rhythm with a left bundle branch block with ST segment elevation in leads V3 - V5 and concordant ST elevation >1mm in V5. Sgarbossa criteria for acute myocardial infarction in the presence of LBBB was 5 points. Computed tomography (CT) scan of the head without contrast showed large bilateral cerebellar hemorrhages with mild inferior herniation of the cerebellar tonsils. Echocardiogram showed ejection fraction of 55-60% with no wall motion abnormalities. Immediate supportive treatment, including fluids and reversal of anticoagulation with prothrombin complex concentrate and vitamin K were administered. The patient underwent a successful suboccipital decompressive craniotomy.