CASE REPORT   Open access

Italian Journal of Emergency Medicine 2020 December;9(3):155-7

DOI: 10.23736/S2532-1285.20.00057-9

Copyright © 2020 THE AUTHORS

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license which allows users to copy and distribute the manuscript, as long as this is not done for commercial purposes and further does not permit distribution of the manuscript if it is changed or edited in any way, and as long as the user gives appropriate credits to the original author(s) and the source (with a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI) and provides a link to the license.

lingua: Inglese

Osborne waves in hypothermia: the need for differential diagnosis in urgency

Antonella RUSSO ¹ ✉, Aldo LACQUANITI ², Paolo DANIELE ¹

¹ Emergency Unit, Parodi Delfino Hospital, Colleferro, Rome, Italy; ² Coronary Intensive Care Unit, Parodi Delfino Hospital, Colleferro, Rome, Italy

During hypothermia electrocardiogram shows decreasing pulse rate and wave abnormalities, predisposing to fatal complications, such as Osborn wave. Diagnosis and treatment of hypothermia in 88-year-old female, complicated by late delta wave also named J or Osborn wave at ECG, is reported. The presence of J wave requires early and aggressive management to prevent life threatening complications such as atrial and ventricular arrythmias.

KEY WORDS: Hypothermia; Arrhythmias, cardiac; Case reports