Cardiac tamponade associated with an elevated arterial blood pressure.
A 30-year-old male presented with acute pericarditis and a moderate pericardial effusion. His condition deteriorated suddenly with a marked elevation in blood pressure. The hypertension was erroneously correlated with a low probability of cardiac tamponade, leading to a delay in performing an echocardiogram. The echocardiogram subsequently showed features of cardiac tamponade. Severe elevation of blood pressure in a patient with cardiac tamponade is a rare and under-recognized disorder. This condition is discussed here.
Gill
Daljeet Singh
DS
Department of Cardiology, The Heart Institute at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, Singapore 308433, Singapore. dal3@hotmail.com
Noarbe
Mary Fedelaine P
MF
Lee
Raymond K K
RK
Yong
Quek-Wei
QW
Ng
Kheng-Siang
KS