title: The fluoroscopic swinging heart: a rare sight for the modern interventionalist.
abstract: Herein, we present the case of a 49-year-old woman who presented to a peripheral hospital with a 4-day history of progressive shortness of breath. Following a clinical diagnosis of heart failure and slightly elevated cardiac troponins on initial blood work, the patient was referred for same-day diagnostic coronary angiography, which revealed normal coronary arteries but the surprising finding of a fluoroscopic swinging heart due to a massive pericardial effusion. The patient promptly improved after emergent pericardiocentesis. Fluoroscopic clues to the diagnosis of pericardial effusion are reviewed, with accompanying illustrative video and hemodynamic tracings.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche et Centre Cardiovasculaire du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada. brian.potter@umontreal.ca
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Potter
authors.forename: Vu-Hung
authors.initials: VH
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.forename: Jean-Bernard
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Masson
mesh_terms: D002305:Cardiac Tamponade / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005471:Fluoroscopy; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D006339:Heart Rate; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D007022:Hypotension / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D020519:Pericardiocentesis; D016896:Treatment Outcome