title: Cardiac tamponade associated with an elevated arterial blood pressure.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, The Heart Institute at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, Singapore 308433, Singapore. dal3@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Daljeet Singh
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.forename: Mary Fedelaine P
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Noarbe
authors.forename: Raymond K K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Quek-Wei
authors.initials: QW
authors.lastname: Yong
authors.forename: Kheng-Siang
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Ng