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A 63‐Year‐Old Woman with a Pericardial Effusion, Bilateral Pleural Effusions, and Ascites: Is the Whole Greater than the Sum of Its Parts?
Author(s) -
Sparano Dina M.,
Kohli Priya,
Gulati Martha
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
echocardiography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1540-8175
pISSN - 0742-2822
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-8175.2009.01110.x
Subject(s) - ascites , pleural effusion , pericardial effusion , medicine , effusion , radiology , surgery
A 63‐year‐old female presented with dyspnea, leg edema, and abdominal distention. Exam revealed blood pressure of 104/58, pulse 108/min, jugular venous pressure of 8 cm, no pulsus paradoxus, a pericardial rub, muffled heart sounds, decreased basilar breath sounds, ascites, and ankle edema. Electrocardiogram showed low voltage. Imaging revealed thickened pericardium and a pericardial effusion. Hemodynamic tracings postpericardiocentesis revealed elevated right‐sided pressures. The patient was diagnosed with effusive constrictive pericarditis. The case and review of this condition are described. Patients with a pericardial effusion and symptoms unresponsive to pericardiocentesis or with pericardial thickening should undergo evaluation for effusive‐constrictive pericarditis. (Echocardiography 2010;27:454‐459)