title: Hampton's hump in a patient with endocarditis and septic emboli.
abstract: We discuss a case of a 20-year-old woman presenting with chest pain found to have a Hampton's hump on chest x-ray and corresponding wedge infarct on computed tomographic scan. Contrary to our suspicion that this febrile and tachycardic patient had a pulmonary embolism, she was later determined to have a septic embolus secondary to endocarditis. We highlight the difficulties in diagnosing certain cases of endocarditis in the emergency department, as well as the difficulties in distinguishing septic emboli from pulmonary emboli,especially with plain radiographs.
authors.affiliation: 5501 Old York Road Philadelphia, PA 19141. Electronic address: bassomar@einstein.edu.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Basso
authors.affiliation: Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goldstein
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004617:Embolism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D004696:Endocarditis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011859:Radiography; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D034363:Viridans Streptococci / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D055815:Young Adult