Katz-Wachtel phenomenon in an adult with dilated cardiomyopathy

Dinkar Bhasin; Ayush Agarwal; Yash Paul Sharma; Arun Sharma; Soumitra Ghosh

doi:10.4103/apc.apc_90_23

Katz-Wachtel phenomenon in an adult with dilated cardiomyopathy

Ann Pediatr Cardiol. 2023 Sep-Oct;16(5):381-383. doi: 10.4103/apc.apc_90_23. Epub 2024 Apr 1.

Authors

Dinkar Bhasin¹, Ayush Agarwal², Yash Paul Sharma¹, Arun Sharma³, Soumitra Ghosh⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
² Department of Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
³ Department of Radiology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
⁴ Department of Cardiology, Vivekananda Hospital, Durgapur, West Bengal, India.

Abstract

Katz-Wachtel phenomenon is an electrocardiogram (ECG) sign demonstrating large equiphasic precordial QRS complexes indicative of biventricular hypertrophy. This sign is most commonly seen in children with congenital heart disease and is rarely described in adults. We report a case where this ECG sign was noted in an adult with dilated cardiomyopathy and discuss the possible mechanisms for this unusual finding.

Keywords: Biventricular hypertrophy; Katz-Wachtel phenomenon; dilated cardiomyopathy; pulmonary hypertension.