When things are not quite what they seem

A 61-year-old man presented with recurrent presyncope, 12-lead ECG and echocardiographic features of a right ventricular (RV) cardiomyopathy, and non-sustained ventricular tachycardia on Holter monitoring. During defibrillator implant for presumed arrhythmogenic RV cardiomyopathy, ventricular pacing parameters were satisfactory and the following images were obtained (figure 1). The implantable cardioverter defibrillator lead appeared well sited in the RV apex on posterior-anterior fluoroscopy (figure 1A). However, screening in the left anterior oblique (LAO) projection raised doubts about the true lead position (figure 1B). On-table echocardiography and 12-lead ECG confirmed lead placement within the left ventricle (LV). Pullback of the lead, while screening, suggested passage to the systemic circulation via an atrial septal defect (ASD; figure 2A–D and video 1). Attempts to reposition …