Sudden cardiac arrest as the first manifestation in a patient with catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome

Abstract

We herein report a 26-year-old woman with sudden cardiac arrest who had no remarkable medical history. While resuscitation was successfully performed with adrenalin administration and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, the cause of cardiac arrest could not be determined for over two weeks. Given the presence of autoimmune disease along with the findings of refractory renal insufficiency and thrombocytopenia, a kidney biopsy and blood examinations, including lupus anticoagulant testing, were performed, which proved the presence of antiphospholipid syndrome. The patient was successfully treated with steroid pulse therapy. This drastic case scenario highlighted the fact that autoimmune disease can be the cause of sudden cardiac arrest.