Tachycardiomyopathy: a reversible little known cause of heart failure

Abstract

We report the case of a 74 year-old woman with heart failure syndrome, history of coronary artery disease with percutaneous revascularization and atrial flutter with rapid ventricular response without adequate control with beta-blockers and antiarrhythmic therapy, dilated left ventricle with impaired systolic function and ejection fraction of 18%; she had stent restenosis in the left anterior descending and the circumflex arteries. Medicated stents were implanted. Successful electrical cardioversion was performed and four weeks later she remained in sinus rhythm; ventricular function was normalized with ejection fraction of 60%, which corroborated the presumptive diagnosis of tachycardiomyopathy.