Long QT syndrome, bilateral bundle branch block, and syncope

pp 393-397

Abstract

Since the original description, in 1957, by Jervell and Lange Nielsen, of the association of prolonged Q-T interval, deafness, and syncope, and the next one, by Romano, in 1963 (prolonged Q-T and syncope) until now, the number of published cases has stadily increased, and different clinical presentations have been communicated; in all of them, besides the presence or absence of deafness, sporadic or familiar incidence was analized, as well as a primary or secondary appearance. All of these patients have a prolonged Q-T interval in the ECG, which indicates a temporal dispersion of refractoriness, predisposing them to catastrophic ventricular arrhythmias, with or without clinical presence of syncope or sudden death. There have been described in the literature cases of association of Q-T prolongation with AV dissociation, AV block and intermitent bundle branch block. The aim of this communication is to present a patient with repetitive syncopal episodes, prolonged Q-T interval, ventricular tachycardia and different degrees of bundle branch block, which culminate in AV conduction failure.