Postgrad Med J 2001;77:535-536
( August )
Self assessment questions
Heart failure, a thick tongue, and an abnormal cranial computed
tomogram
A S Kashyapa, S Kashyapb
a Armed Forces Medical College,
Pune 411 040, India: Department of Medicine, b Department of Hospital Administration
Correspondence to: Dr A S Kashyap skashyap@pn2.vsnl.net.in
Submitted 4
January 2000;
Accepted 4 April 2000
| The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below. |
A 21 year
old man was referred by primary care physicians with complaints of
attacks of thick tongue lasting few minutes, of one year's duration.
The attacks had increased in frequency over the previous month. He also
complained of lethargy, abdominal pain, intermittent
dysphagia, breathlessness on accustomed exertion, and mild headache
of the same duration. On examination he was of average build and
nourishment, and was breathless at rest. His pulse rate was 110 breaths/min, with a low pulse volume. Blood pressure was 80/70 mm Hg.
He had raised jugular venous pressure, pedal oedema, tender
hepatomegaly, and ascites. There was cardiomegaly and murmur of
tricuspid regurgitation. On active movements of the tongue it became
broad, thick, and stiff; and came back to normal after few minutes. The
rest of the general and systemic examinations was normal. An earlier
non-contrast enhanced cranial computed tomogram is shown in fig
1.
| Figure Removed (Available Only in the Full Text) |
Questions
| (1) |
What is the underlying condition, which can explain his thick tongue and cranial computed tomogram abnormalities?
|
| (2) |
What is the pathophysiology of his cardiac failure?
|
| (3) |
What are the other cardiovascular manifestations of this condition?
|
© 2001 by The Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine