Ultrasonography in Emergency – Seeing Beyond the Apparent

Abstract

Bedside ultrasonography holds an indispensable position in emergency medicine today in most of the Western countries. However, its use is still undermined in most of the developing countries. We present a case of a 55-year-old bronchial asthma patient presenting with suspected acute exacerbation; however, was diagnosed with pericardial effusion with tamponade by point-of-care ultrasound. Eventually, she was diagnosed to have a malignant pericardial effusion and treated appropriately. To conclude, the use of point-of-care ultrasound played a key role in timely diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords

• malignant pericardial effusion
• mimics of bronchial asthma
• point-of-care ultrasound