ABSTRACT
Cardiac tamponade and malignancy are associated with a poor prognosis in Progressive Systemic Sclerosis (PSS). We present the case of a 31-year-old African-Jamaican woman with PSS and a thyroid neoplasm who presented with cardiac tamponade requiring pericardiocentesis. Despite the presence of two poor prognostic markers, she has had a favourable postoperative course.
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , Carcinoma, Papillary , Hyperthyroidism , Scleroderma, Systemic/complications , Thyroid Neoplasms/complications , Cardiac Tamponade/complications , Cardiac Tamponade/diagnosis , Cardiac Tamponade/therapyABSTRACT
A 19-year-old woman, who delivered a macerated stillborn at 32 weeks' gestation and had persistent postpartum vaginal bleeding, presented with a left hemiparesis three and a half months after delivery. A clinical diagnosis of persistent gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) was made, based on quantitative serum beta-hCG of more than 200,000 IU/ml, cannon ball metastases on chest X-ray and two ring enhancing lesions, metastases, in the right parietal lobe on Computed Axial Tomography (CAT) scan of the brain. Despite combination chemotherapy, with methotrexate, cyclophosphamide and actinomycin D, her condition worsened and she died.