PR Segment Shift in Pericarditis

Report:

Sinus rhythm 88/min

PR segment shift consistent with pericarditis (best seen in leads 1, 2, aVR and V2)

Minimal ST elevation 2, 3, aVF

Comment:

The computer reported minimal ST segment elevation in the inferior leads, but I thought I knew better – it was the PR segment shift that made the ST segment look elevated. The T-P segment is the true baseline.

I was rather pleased to see shallow T wave inversion in her next ECG, consistent with pericarditis (133a). However, the PR segments were unchanged. I made the right diagnosis for the wrong reason!

By then I checked the patient’s record to make sure. She indeed had pericarditis, manifest as typical pain and a pericardial effusion. Dialysis & uræmic patients often fail to show any ECG signs of pericarditis. Note that the uræmic pericarditis is a different entity from the dialysis one97.

What, then, of those PR segments? Looking more closely, there is a borderline left atrial abnormality, best seen in the second P in V4 below. This is what done it!

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