ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION TRIGGERED BY DROWNING IN AN ELDERLY PATIENT: A CASE REPORT

Nguyen Van Tan 1, 2 , Nguyễn Phan 3 , Le Tran Bao Ngoc 1 ,
1 1. Department of Emergency and Interventional Cardiology, Thong Nhat Hospital, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
2 2. Department of Geriatrics, School of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
3 Thong Nhat Hospital image/svg+xml
* Corresponding author:

Article Information

Metrics
Downloads: 10 Views: 29
DOI
10.63947/bvtn.v1i5.21
Published
2025-11-01
Issue Vol. 1 No. 5 (2025): Thong Nhat Hospital’s 50-Year Journey - Comprehensive Healthcare and Healthy Aging
Section
Case Report
Categories
Research

Download Article

PDF

How to Cite

1.
Tan NV, Nguyễn Phan, Ngoc LTB. ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION TRIGGERED BY DROWNING IN AN ELDERLY PATIENT: A CASE REPORT. JHA [Internet]. Vietnam; 2025 Nov. 1 [cited 2025 Nov. 5];1(5):133–138. https://tcsuckhoelaohoa.vn/bvtn/article/view/96 doi: 10.63947/bvtn.v1i5.21
Loading citation...
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

Abstract

Drowning is a leading cause of unintentional injury-related mortality worldwide, particularly in two vulnerable populations: children and the elderly. In addition to respiratory compromise, drowning may lead to serious complications such as hypothermia, prolonged neurological injury, and cardiovascular sequelae — including myocardial damage. Myocardial infarction following drowning is rare and frequently overlooked in the acute setting, as elevated cardiac biomarkers are often attributed to resuscitation efforts. Nevertheless, in patients with pre-existing cardiovascular risk factors, systemic hypoxia combined with acute physiological stress induced by drowning may serve as a trigger for true myocardial infarction. This report describes an incidental finding of underlying coronary artery disease following a drowning event, underscoring the critical importance of comprehensive cardiovascular assessment in drowning survivors for early recognition of life-threatening cardiac events and timely, individualized management

Keywords

drowning elderly patient coronary artery disease

References

  1. World Health Organization. Drowning fact sheet. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drowning. Accessed July 25, 2025
  2. Drowning (submersion injuries) – UpToDate. Available at: https://www.uptodate.com/contents/drowning-submersion-injuries. Accessed July 25, 2025
  3. Byrne RA, Rossello X, Coughlan JJ, et al. 2023 ESC Guidelines for the management of acute coronary syndromes. Eur Heart J. 2023;44(38):3720-6. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehad191 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad191
  4. Domienik-Karłowicz J, Kupczyńska K, Michalski B, et al. Fourth universal definition of myocardial infarction. Selected messages from the European Society of Cardiology document and lessons learned from the new guidelines on ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and non-ST-segment elevation-acute coronary syndrome. Cardiol J. 2021;28(2):195-201. doi:10.5603/CJ.a2021.0036 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5603/CJ.a2021.0036
  5. Chen LB, Lai YC, Chen CC, et al. Myocardial infarction after near drowning. Am J Emerg Med. 2008;26(5):635.e3–635.e5. doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2007.10.011 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2007.10.011
  6. Omar HR, Gundavaram MS, El-Khabiry E, Ali Y, Camporesi EM. ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction after drowning. Intern Emerg Med. 2013;8(5):447-9. doi:10.1007/s11739-012-0896-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-012-0896-4
  7. Papadodima SA, Sakelliadis EI, Kotretsos PS, Athanaselis SA, Spiliopoulou CA. Cardiovascular disease and drowning: autopsy and laboratory findings. Hellenic J Cardiol. 2007;48(4):198-205.

License

© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Journal of Health and Aging.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.