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Mechanical failure
An eclectic mix of symptoms evades
diagnosis
BY Howard J. Goldstein, MD
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Gus is a 46-year-old auto mechanic with an 8-year history of hypertension,
which is being treated with a combination of an angiotensin-2 receptor
blocker (ARB) and diuretic. He presents to the office because he
had diarrhea 2 weeks earlier, followed by troublesome bloating,
burping and epigastric discomfort. Examination reveals mild epigastric
tenderness, and he's treated with a trial of proton pump inhibitor
therapy.
The patient returns 4 days later feeling "better," but he reports
a sense of "pressure" in his chest at night, along with bloating
and some difficulty getting "a good deep breath." An upper gastrointestinal
series and abdominal ultrasound come back normal with no evidence
of gastroesophageal reflux disease, peptic ulcer, abnormal intra-abdominal
mass or fluid collection.
Gus is back in the office 10 days later, however, with recurrent
complaints of epigastric pain and bloating, which increase with
physical activity, so that he occasionally needs to stop for a "deep
breath." He awakens at night with a sense of acid coming up into
his chest, resulting in a choking sensation. With deep breathing
he feels a "gurgling" in the throat, which improves with cough.
Clinical examination reveals a stocky man in no apparent distress
and with no evidence of cyanosis. His blood pressure is 130/90 mm
Hg, pulse is 96/min and regular, and the chest is clear to auscultation
with normal bilateral air entry. His neck veins appear slightly
prominent and there's mild bilateral pretibial edema. Some right
upper quadrant and epigastric tenderness is noted on abdominal examination
with no evidence of ascites. Routine laboratory investigations reveal
a hemoglobin of 123 g/L, white blood cell count of 8.6 x 109/L,
creatinine at 122 µmol/L and an estimated glomerular filtration
rate of 58 mL/min/1.73 m2, normal electrolytes and 0.3
g/L proteinuria. A chest x-ray shows cardiomegaly and mild congestive
heart failure. An urgent 2D-echocardiogram is performed 2 days later.
What do you expect to find?
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