Tamponade
A 46 year old male diagnosed with Kahler's disease, complains of fast progressive dyspnea. Physical examination reveals tachcardia (140 beats per minute). Upon measuring hois blood pressure the nurse notices a pulsus paradoxus of 30 mm Mercury. Further examination shows decreased lung sounds on the right and dampened percussion on his back on both sides.
You see the ECG which shows a tachcardia and a pulsus alternans, typical for pericarditis
The apical 4 chamber echocardiogram shows severe pericardial effusion and a swinging heart.
| File:example.gif |
| An apical 4 chamber view of a swinging heart |
 enlarge |
