A 70-Year-Old Woman Presenting With Diarrhea and In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
January 2018
in “
CHEST Journal
”
TLDR Thyroid dysfunction can cause heart issues, and bedside ultrasound helps diagnose cardiac arrest causes.
The document described a case of a 70-year-old woman with a history of asthma, renal transplant, and atrial fibrillation who presented with diarrhea, dyspnea, weight loss, fatigue, and hair loss. She suffered cardiac arrest due to right ventricular failure, likely worsened by hyperthyroidism-induced pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary embolism was ruled out, and her condition improved with treatment for hyperthyroidism and right ventricular failure. The case underscored the importance of bedside ultrasound in diagnosing cardiac arrest causes and emphasized the need for timely management of thyroid disease to prevent complications such as the Jod-Basedow phenomenon.