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OSSEO, WISCONSIN. Thomas Screnock, a family doctor in Wisconsin,
reports an interesting case where a persistent atrial fibrillation
was stopped and sinus rhythm restored through exposure to static
elecricity. Dr. Screnock's patient was a 51-year-old, otherwise
healthy man, who had suddenly developed atrial fibrillation.
Treatment with oral verapamil, digitalis, and quinidine did not
stop the fibrillation so the patient was put on warfarin in
preparation for cardioversion. Just near the end of the four-week
anticoagulation period the man went shopping. As he reached for a
bottle of steak sauce placed on a steel shelf he received a
powerful shock caused by a build-up of static electricity. Later
that evening he noticed that his pulse was regular and an
electrocardiogram confirmed that his heart rhythm was back to
normal. Dr. Screnock ascribes the termination of the fibrillation
attack to the static electricity shock and closes his letter to
the editor with the comment "Please don't alert your managed care
CEO of this rather surprising resolution of a recalcitrant
dysrhythmia."
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