Key result
Pericardial drainage and antimicrobial therapy resulted in complete clinical recovery of a 22-year-old man with purulent pericarditis and cardiac tamponade.
Case Report (n=1)
Echocardiographic findings of echo-dense 'bubbles' in the pericardial space can aid in the prompt diagnosis and treatment of purulent pericarditis.
Alerts clinicians to masked purulent pericarditis amid respiratory illness; hypothesis-generating and should not yet change practice.
BACKGROUND: Purulent pericarditis is a rare but life-threatening illness. Often, it may be masked by the primary infectious etiology like pneumonia, endocarditis, or CNS infection, leading to a delay in diagnosis and treatment. Echocardiography is the modality of choice for estimating the presence and size of pericardial effusion and detecting presence of tamponade. CASE REPORT: We present a case of a young man with acute respiratory illness in whom clinical exam, electrocardiography, and classic echocardiographic findings played a key role in diagnosis. An echo-dense effusion (rather than echo-free space) appearing like "bubbles" within the pericardial space was seen and a purulent nature of the fluid was strongly suspected. Prompt institution of antimicrobial therapy and timely pericardial drainage resulted in complete clinical recovery of the patient. CONCLUSIONS: In this case, timely diagnosis and prompt treatment of effusion with pericardial drainage and antibiotics resulted in complete recovery from this otherwise devastating infection.
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Saini et al. (2015) conducted a case report in Purulent pericarditis with cardiac tamponade (n=1). Pericardial drainage and antibiotics was evaluated on Clinical recovery. Pericardial drainage and antimicrobial therapy resulted in complete clinical recovery of a 22-year-old man with purulent pericarditis and cardiac tamponade.
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