Presentation
Shortness of breath, long history of rheumatoid arthritis/lupus overlap.
Patient Data
Age: 50 years.
Gender: Female
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Massively dilated cardiac silhouette, otherwise normal.
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Normal.
From the case:
Pericardial effusion
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Massive pericardial effusion, small left pleural effusion, mild dependent atelectasis.
Case Discussion
An enlarged "water bottle" heart configuration may be due to a cardiomyopathy or a pericardial effusion. In this case, the normal chest X-ray from 3 months prior made cardiomyopathy unlikely.