Emergency Medicine Case of the Week -- Pericardial Effusion

Emergency Medicine Case of the Week

Case #3 -- Pericardial Effusion

**Learning Objectives**
After reviewing this case you will be able to:
Identify the electrocardiographic signs associated with pericardial effusion Explain the mechanism of these electrocardiographic findings Develop a plan for the emergency treatment of pericardial effusion

Patient Profile: "Vando", a 8-year old, castrated male, German Shepherd dog.

History: "Vando" has chronic renal failure. He has been off feed for the past few days and now is very lethargic. The owner felt "Vando" was becoming dehydrated which made his renal failure worse.

Physical Examination: Heart and pulse rate = 170/minute. Respiratory rate = panting. Body weight = 30.5 kg. "Vando" appeared to be 7% dehydrated. Upon palpating the abdomen, a large mass was felt in the cranial abdomen. Auscultation of the thorax revealed very muffled heart sounds. An electrocardiogram was collected as appeared as follows:

elecalt.jpg (52085 bytes)

Questions:

Diagnose the electrocardiographic abnormality seen in "Vando".
Explain the pathogenesis leading to this electrocardiographic finding.
Based upon your knowledge of this electrocardiographic finding, diagnose the most likely cause.
Describe the emergency treatment for this dog.

Answers and Discussion:

Return to Introduction:

Emergency Medicine Case of the Week

Copyright 1998, Wayne E. Wingfield, DVM, Colorado State University, All Rights Reserved This page was last updated: 09/05/98

Copyright 1998, Wayne E. Wingfield, DVM, Colorado State University, All Rights Reserved
This page was last updated: 09/05/98