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(Circulation. 1996;93:2197-2202.)
© 1996 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

Pleural and Pericardial Effusions in a 50-Year-Old Woman

Presented March 13, 1995, at the University of Texas Health Science Center Medical School at Houston.

Eddy Barasch, MD; Ramesh Hariharan, MD; Ping Fai Wong, MD; Kent A. Heck, MD

From the Department of Internal Medicine (E.B., R.H., P.F.W.) and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (K.A.H.), University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Correspondence to Eddy Barasch, MD, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, MSB 1.257, 6431 Fannin, Houston, TX 77030.

Key Words: cardiac tamponade • Clinicopathological Conferences • echocardiography • pericarditis

	Case Presentation (Ramesh Hariharan, MD)

 
A previously healthy 50-year-old Chinese woman presented with a low-grade fever, a generalized headache, and chest pain of 2 to 3 weeks' duration. She described intermittent sharp chest pain over the precordium that intensified when she lay down and shortness of breath after minimal exertion. Despite having lost her appetite, she had gained 10 pounds during the past month and had noticed ankle swelling. She denied having had arthralgia or skin rash and had not experienced any nocturnal dyspnea, wheezing, cough, expectoration, or hemoptysis. She had visited her relatives in the Middle East 6 months earlier, but her past medical history was uneventful. She had taken acetaminophen (Tylenol) tablets and a Chinese herbal preparation, but her symptoms continued.

On physical examination, she appeared weak and ill. Her temperature was 36.7°C (98.0°F), and her pulse was 110 beats per minute, regular, and had normal volume and character. Her blood pressure was 115/70 mm Hg, which decreased to 90/70 mm Hg on inspiration; her respiratory rate was 22 breaths per minute. Carotid pulsations were normal. Jugular veins were distended to the angle of the mandible when the patient sat upright, but no further venous engorgement was noted on inspiration. There was mild mucosal pallor, but the oropharynx was otherwise normal. The first and second heart sounds were normal, and there were no clicks or gallops. A superficial scratchy systolic sound was heard intermittently over the left lower sternal region. Dullness to percussion, scattered inspiratory crackles, and diminished air entry were evident over . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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