Pedro Jose Cruz Guzman; Karen Lidsky; William Hanna – This case report describes a 5-month-old ex-premature infant who developed cardiac tamponade associated with PICC line malposition. Point of care ultrasound (POCUS) was used to diagnose and effectively manage the condition peri-arrest via emergent pericardiocentesis.
Rahul Nair; Jonathan Zuo; Ariel L. Shiloh – Serial point of care ultrasound (POCUS) exams are essential to assess acute pericardial effusions which can rapidly evolve into cardiac tamponade. A typical presentation includes dyspnea, tachycardia, and chest pain. Importantly, serial cardiac exams in such high-risk patients can detect other concurrent pathologies. We present an unusual case of a patient who initially presented with an acute circumferential pericardial effusion and upon serial POCUS exams developed an unexpected Takotsubo cardiomyopathy in the setting of cardiac tamponade.
Jacob E. Sundberg, MD; Ankit Mehta, MD – Point of care ultrasound (POCUS) is a reliable diagnostic tool for the evaluation of a patient with dyspnea. This case provides an example of an acutely dyspneic patient in which standard evaluation failed to elucidate the true etiology of the patient’s dyspnea.