Friday, January 15, 2010

Lady Gaga's Palpitation Differential

Okay, medical blog-o-sphere, pressing news has arrived that Lady Gaga had to cancel her concert at Purdue University due to an acute onset of pre-performance palpitations:
"Paramedics came to take care of me, and told me my heart-rate was irregular - a result of exhaustion and dehydration."
Your job, should you like to accept it, is to consider the differential diagnosis of what might have been the cause.

So go ahead... make me proud!

I'll start:

(1) Premature atrial contractions...

-Wes
at

6 comments:

  1. JayFri Jan 15, 11:33:00 AM CST

    Is there libel in the blogospere?

    My thoughts run rampant, but figure I better be careful.

    Jay

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownFri Jan 15, 11:54:00 AM CST

    drugs and anorexia!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousFri Jan 15, 12:00:00 PM CST

    PVCs, a-fib; potential causes could include stress, caffeine, alcohol and other stimulants, eating disorder, hyperthyroidism...

    ReplyDelete
  4. andrewFri Jan 15, 02:06:00 PM CST

    I would lean towards a non-organic cause like sympathomimetics ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. DrWesFri Jan 15, 04:17:00 PM CST

    Jay-

    Yes, I'm sure there's libel in the blog-o-sphere. The opinions here are conjecture only and I hope will serve as an educational exercise. Your point is well-taken.

    Now, there's more:

    Sinus arrhythmia, sinus tachycardia, atrial tachycardia...

    ... others?

    ReplyDelete
  6. franFri Jan 15, 07:57:00 PM CST

    If there is indeed a rhythm abnormality - remember that palpitations perceived and events seen on Holter recording have an r value of approximately .5 (coin-toss) - then I would say PAC's, followed by PVC's. Could be a Holiday Heart Syndrome...or exogenous catecholeamine xs.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.