<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>We report the case of a 62-year-old woman who was admitted to Vilnius University Hospital Santaros klinikos suffering from week-long shortness of breath during minimal physical activity. Computed tomography angiography and echocardiogram findings led to a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism and large pericardial effusion. The patient was previously diagnosed with a base of tongue cancer with lung metastasis. The patient received low-molecular-weight-heparin, and pericardiocentesis was performed. As a result, the patient’s general condition improved, and she was discharged from the hospital. In this case, pulmonary embolism and pericardial effusion coincided as complications of malignancy. The concurrent presentation of these conditions is rare and poses a clinical dilemma regarding the treatment, including anticoagulant therapy.</p>
</abstract>

We report the case of a 62-year-old woman who was admitted to Vilnius University Hospital Santaros klinikos suffering from week-long shortness of breath during minimal physical activity. Computed tomography angiography and echocardiogram findings led to a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism and large pericardial effusion. The patient was previously diagnosed with a base of tongue cancer with lung metastasis. The patient received low-molecular-weight-heparin, and pericardiocentesis was performed. As a result, the patient’s general condition improved, and she was discharged from the hospital. In this case, pulmonary embolism and pericardial effusion coincided as complications of malignancy. The concurrent presentation of these conditions is rare and poses a clinical dilemma regarding the treatment, including anticoagulant therapy.

Simultaneous presentation of pulmonary embolism and pericardial effusion as complications of cancer: a case report

Seminars in Cardiovascular Medicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

We report the case of a 62-year-old woman who was admitted to Vilnius University Hospital Santaros klinikos suffering from week-long shortness of breath during...

Simultaneous presentation of pulmonary embolism and pericardial effusion as complications of cancer: a case report

Published Online: Nov 01, 2023

Page range: 18 - 21

Received: May 02, 2023

Accepted: Aug 14, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/semcard-2023-0002

Keywords
pulmonary embolism, pericardial effusion, malignancy, cancer

© 2023 Kristina Ratautė et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Simultaneous presentation of pulmonary embolism and pericardial effusion as complications of cancer: a case report

Published Online: Nov 01, 2023

Page range: 18 - 21

Received: May 02, 2023

Accepted: Aug 14, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/semcard-2023-0002

Keywordspulmonary embolism, pericardial effusion, malignancy, cancer

© 2023 Kristina Ratautė et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
pulmonary embolism, pericardial effusion, malignancy, cancer