Pulsus Alternans in Critical Aortic Stenosis: When the Left Ventricle Is Failing

Baudouin Bourlond; David Meier; Etienne Pruvot; Pierre Monney; Georgios Tzimas

doi:10.1016/j.jaccas.2024.102572

Pulsus Alternans in Critical Aortic Stenosis: When the Left Ventricle Is Failing

JACC Case Rep. 2024 Oct 2;29(19):102572. doi: 10.1016/j.jaccas.2024.102572.

Authors

Baudouin Bourlond¹, David Meier¹, Etienne Pruvot¹, Pierre Monney¹, Georgios Tzimas¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Cardiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Abstract

A 58-year-old man presented with worsening dyspnea. Electrocardiogram showed variation in T-wave amplitude occurring every other beat. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a severe aortic stenosis with beat-to-beat variation in stroke volume, suggestive of pulsus alternans. Recognition of pulsus alternans is important because it is considered a marker of poor prognosis.

Keywords: pulsus alternans; severe aortic stenosis.