Does intravenous potassium supplementation suppress recurrent ventricular fibrillation in early repolarization syndrome associated with hypokalemia?
Intravenous potassium supplementation can be an effective treatment for electrical storm in patients with early repolarization syndrome and hypokalemia.
We describe a case of early repolarization syndrome in which augmented J waves were documented during an electrical storm associated with hypokalemia. The patient was referred to our hospital for therapy to treat recurrent ventricular fibrillation (VF). The 12-lead electrocardiogram showed giant J waves associated with hypokalemia during multiple episodes of VF. Although antiarrhythmic agents or deep sedation were not effective for the VF, an intravenous supplementation of potassium completely suppressed the VF with a reduction in the J-wave amplitude. Our report discusses the possible relationship between hypokalemia and VF in early repolarization syndrome.
Myojo et al. (2012) studied this question.