A tribute to Barney Marriott.

In this brief tribute to Barney Marriott, I wanted to share the story of his life both personal and professional. Barney was a great man, friend, physician, mentor, teacher, and/or colleague to thousands of physicians, nurses, technicians, and industry groups worldwide, many of whom may not be aware of his passing on August 31, 2007. One simply could not have gotten through cardiology training at any level without having been exposed to 1 of his 21 textbooks or his 140 plus journal articles, or historical electrocardiogram (ECG) workshops. Barney was rightfully so labeled the "Father of Electrocardiography," and his book Practical Electrocardiography, the bible of electrocardiography. When asked who will take his place, my response is that he is simply irreplaceable. All his followers and friends can do is pass on his eloquent teachings, emulate his graciousness, and see to it that his name is written in the medical history books. Being a medical history buff, I cannot say that I have come across any physician in cardiology circles who has been so widely read and respected as Barney Marriott was. Enjoy his story.

Type II bidirectional ventricular tachycardia in a patient with myocardial infarction.

A 84-year-old man presented to the emergency department complaining of chest pain and palpitations. He had no history of coronary artery disease. The 12-lead electrocardiography showed bidirectional ventricular tachycardia (BVT). Coronary angiography revealed severe mid left anterior descending and mid left circumflex lesions. The BVT, in this case, was most likely due to myocardial ischema. The ethiology of published BVT cases are most commonly digitalis toxicity and rarely herbal aconitine poisoning, hypokalemic periodic paralysis, cathecolaminergic VT, myocarditis, and Anderson-Tawil syndrome. The patient had neither of these underlying conditions. To the best of our knowledge and research in the literature, there was no report of bidirectional VT in the patients with myocardial infarction.