Heart Failure: From Typical Clinical Manifestations to the Surprising Final Diagnosis.
| Autor: | Robalo MM; Internal Medicine, Hospital de Braga, Braga, PRT., Araújo IM; Internal Medicine, Hospital de Braga, Braga, PRT., Domingues RM; Internal Medicine, Hospital de Braga, Braga, PRT., Viana Pereira M; Medical Oncology, Hospital de Braga, Braga, PRT., Esperança S; Internal Medicine, Hospital de Braga, Braga, PRT. |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Zdroj: | Cureus [Cureus] 2022 Jul 14; Vol. 14 (7), pp. e26870. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Jul 14 (Print Publication: 2022). |
| DOI: | 10.7759/cureus.26870 |
| Abstrakt: | The authors report a case of an 80-year-old woman with multiple cardiovascular risk factors, with exuberant acute congestive heart failure at admission. Fever, anemia, and an increase in inflammatory parameters were present, with imaging suggesting a respiratory infection as the main reason for decompensation. Empirical antibiotic therapy was instituted, with no clinical improvement even after escalation to broad-spectrum antibiotics and non-invasive ventilation with high support pressures, with no possibility of weaning. Due to maintenance of symptoms, a transthoracic echocardiogram was performed, revealing a large left atrial myxoma, obstructing the mitral valve in diastole. This case illustrates the potential severity of these benign tumors and their ability to mimic symptoms that are often evaluated in the daily life of an internist. The high clinical suspicion led to a diagnosis that was surprising due to its rarity and severity, with the patient being urgently referred for cardiac surgery. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. (Copyright © 2022, Robalo et al.) |
| Databáze: | MEDLINE |
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