We describe a case of pericardial tamponade as an initial manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Although pericarditis or pericardial effusion is the common cardiac complication of SLE, tamponade is unusual. Treatment consists of pericardiocentesis, administration of high dose glucocorticoid an antimalarial drug.

BACKGROUND Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a myocardial disorder characterised by left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in the absence of another cardiac or systemic disease capable of producing the magnitude of LVH evident. HCM causes variable symptoms and is one of the leading causes of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in young adults. While various phenotypic features of HCM among monozygotic tw...

The term cardiac amyloidosis refers to the involvement of the heart as a result of amyloid deposition in heart tissue either in the context of a systemic disease or as a localized form. Several proamyloid proteins can produce amyloid deposits in the heart. Each of these amyloidoses has characteristic clinical (cardiac and extracardiac) features, its own course, and a specific diagnosis and trea...

A negative flecainide challenge does not rule out Brugada syndrome even in the presence of nonfatal cardiac arrest as the first manifestation of the disease. This should prompt clinicians to ensure long-term ECG follow-up and consider repeating a drug test with another sodium channel blocker.

A 63-year-old man bearing most signs and symptoms (facial pigmentation, degenerative arthritis, and dark urine) pertinent to his known history of alkaptonuria underwent aortic valve replacement for critical aortic stenosis. Although rare, aortic stenosis is the most common cardiac manifestation of alkaptonuric ochronosis.

The authors report a case with pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade as a rare clinical manifestation of chronic graft-versus-host disease in a young man with acute myelogenous leukemia submitted to an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from a related donor.

Cardiac sarcoidosis is a major cause of death in patients with systemic sarcoidosis. Cardiac manifestations are seen in 2.3% of the patients. Atrioventricular (AV) block is one of the common manifestations of cardiac sarcoidosis. Other presentations of cardiac involvement include congestive heart failure, ventricular arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death. The presence of AV block in young patie...