Self-Cardioversion

To the Editor: We describe a physician who performed cardioversion on himself. A 40-year-old plastic surgeon received an electric shock from a 110-V wall socket while trying to repair his examining-room lamp. He felt his heart beating very fast, and he felt dizzy. He dragged himself to his office operating room and attached himself to a heart monitor. He discovered that he was in rapid atrial fibrillation, with a heart rate of 160 per minute. On realizing that he was going to pass out, with no help immediately available, he charged a cardioverter–defibrillator and gave himself two shocks of 100…