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Case Reports
. 2016 Feb;5(1):96-7.
doi: 10.1177/2048872614560503. Epub 2014 Dec 1.

The dancing heart

J D Richardson  1 , A J Turley  1 , R A Wright  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

The dancing heart

J D Richardson et al. Eur Heart J Acute Cardiovasc Care. 2016 Feb.

Abstract

A woman with palliative breast cancer presents with dyspnoea and is noted to have an unusual electrocardiogram, with an alternating electrical axis observed. Subsequent echocardiogram demonstrates the classical findings of a large pericardial effusion causing 'electrical alternans' aptly illustrating why this rare phenomenon occurs.

Keywords: Electrical alternans; echocardiography; pericardial effusion.

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