1The Center for Comprehensive Cardiovascular Care, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri
American Journal of Medical Case Reports.
2020,
Vol. 8 No. 3, 70-72
DOI: 10.12691/ajmcr-8-3-1
Copyright © 2020 Science and Education PublishingCite this paper: Ziad SayedAhmad, Zachary Oman, Ihab Hassanieh, ElSayed Abo-Salem, Tarek Helmy. Atrial Arrhythmias as a Complication of Cardiac Tamponade. Case Series and Review of Literature.
American Journal of Medical Case Reports. 2020; 8(3):70-72. doi: 10.12691/ajmcr-8-3-1.
Correspondence to: Ziad SayedAhmad, The Center for Comprehensive Cardiovascular Care, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri. Email:
ziad.sayedahmad@health.slu.eduAbstract
Atrial arrhythmias have been associated with a large number of medical conditions such as infection, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary embolism, hyperthyroidism, hypertension, and acute coronary syndrome to name a few. While less common, atrial arrhythmias have also been associated with disease processes causing pericardial inflammation. As such, presentation of atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter (A-Fib/A-Flutter) as a complication of pericardial effusion and the role of pericardiocentesis have not been well described. We report two cases of large pericardial effusions complicated by A-Fib/A-Flutter with immediate conversion to sinus rhythm following pericardiocentesis.
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