Acute ST-Segment Elevation: Don't Rush me to the Catheter Laboratory- Please Wait

We report a case of a young woman with no cardiac history who presented with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and ST-segment elevation on the electrocardiogram. The cardiac arrest initially was suspected to be secondary to coronary artery disease. Further history was taken from a relative who said that the patient had a severe headache before the cardiac arrest. It was subsequenly found on computed tomography of the head that the patient had infratentorial subarachnoid hemorrhage and diffurse brain edema. The management of course was totally different from what was contemplated initially. This case illustrates that ST-segment elevation can be caused by other conditions besides on occlusive thrombus in the coronary arteries.