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American Journal of Medical Case Reports. 2020, 8(3), 70-72
DOI: 10.12691/AJMCR-8-3-1
Original Research

Atrial Arrhythmias as a Complication of Cardiac Tamponade. Case Series and Review of Literature

Ziad SayedAhmad1, , Zachary Oman1, Ihab Hassanieh1, ElSayed Abo-Salem1 and Tarek Helmy1

1The Center for Comprehensive Cardiovascular Care, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri

Pub. Date: January 16, 2020
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Cite this paper

Ziad SayedAhmad, Zachary Oman, Ihab Hassanieh, ElSayed Abo-Salem and 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

Abstract

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.

Keywords

pericardial effusion, Pericardiocentesis, atrial fibrillation

Copyright

Creative CommonsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References

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