Rhabdomyolysis Causing Renal Failure Following Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Cardioversion, and Myocardial Infarction: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Rhabdomyolysis is a condition where there is damage of skeletal muscle, causing myoglobin leak into the circulation. We report a case of a 69-year-old female with a history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, morbid obesity, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, and chronic kidney disease stage who underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation following ventricular fibrillation to restore effective cardiac rhythm. After the third attempt of defibrillation she converted to sinus rhythm. Her echocardiography was suggestive of myocardial infarction (MI). On the second day of her hospitalization, she started becoming oliguric and her creatinine started rising up causing acute kidney injury (AKI). The patient’s creatinine kinase (CK) level peaked at 6380 u/L (normal range 26-192 u/L), myoglobin was >20,000 ng/mL (normal range 9-83 ng/mL), and myocardial bound (MB) isoenzyme of CK was 4.5 ng/mL (normal range 0-3.6 ng/mL). Plasma creatinine increased to 5.71 mg/dL and ultimately developed renal failure. She was started on hemodialysis. Her cardiac catheterization was suggestive of MI. Our case highlights that MI, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and cardioversion can be a cause for myoglobinuric renal failure, which has been rarely reported in the literature before.