More articles from Cardiovascular Board Review
- An 85-year-old woman with respiratory failure and positional hypoxemia
Her oxygen saturation was more than 93% when lying down but dropped to less than 85% when she was upright.
- A continuous cardiac murmur
A 45-year-old woman presents with progressive shortness of breath and a continuous murmur over the entire precordium.
- A middle-aged man with progressive fatigue
He has been taking good care of himself, but 1 year ago his ejection fraction was 60% and now it is 35%. He also has a new left bundle branch block. What is the cause?
- A 37-year-old man with chest pain, ECG changes, and elevated cardiac enzymes
He has had chest pain and dyspnea for the past few months, but now they are worse. What is the most likely cause?
- An elderly woman with shortness of breath
Her dyspnea started about 6 months ago and has recently worsened. What is the cause?
- A young man with acute weakness of his right arm
A previously healthy, relatively young man has had a stroke. What is the cause and what should be done?
- A young woman with severe hypoxemia, electrocardiographic changes, and altered mental status
This case highlights the importance of thorough history-taking and the need to maintain a broad differential diagnosis, even if the test results seem definitive.
- An elderly woman with chest pain and shortness of breath
The patient was treated for myocardial infarction but became hypotensive and developed moderate respiratory distress on her third hospital day. What is the likely cause?
- An elderly man with syncope caused by right ventricular infarction and anomalous coronary vasculature
Up to half of inferior infarctions involve the right ventricle. Typical signs of right ventricular infarction include hypotension, jugular venous distention, clear lung fields, ST-segment depression in V1 and V2, and elevations in V3R and V4R.
- Cardiac sarcoidosis: A cause of infiltrative cardiomyopathy
A 52-year-old man is having frequent episodes of ventricular tachycardia. How should he be treated?