Cardiac Tamponade in a Patient with Primary Hypothyroidism

Abstract

Hypothyroidism is a common disease with multisystem involvement. It may present clinically in various forms. Pericardial effusion (PE) is one of the cardiovascular manifestation.Pericardial effusion is the accumulation of fluid in the pericardial space. The occurrence of pericardial effusion in hypothyroidism appears to be frequent manifestation of severe myxedema, than in mild hypothyroidism. The incidence of pericardial effusion in hypothyroidism is 3 to 6%. However, the incidence of cardiac tamponade in patients with hypothyroidism is rare event. The slow accumulation of liquid in the pericardial space leads to the rarity of hemodynamic premonitory signs, even in presence of large effusions.In this article, we report an elderly female presented with features of hypothyroidism and pericardial effusion which rapidly developed into cardiac tamponade. She did not have premonitory hemodynamic signs.