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.
Keywords: Butterfly iQ; Cardiac POCUS; POCUS; Pericardial effusion; Takotsubo; Tamponade; assessment Case.
Copyright (c) 2023 Rahul Nair, Jonathan Zuo, Ariel Shiloh.