Yes, I recently had a patient who came to me with “worrying” as her primary symptom.
She was experiencing a sense of unease and fear. She was concerned about her family matters. Initially, the thought was, this might be related to anxiety or stress, but gradually she started taking deep and fast breaths. Seems Panic attack, right? Ok done.
Then, I was like something is wrong and went ahead with an ECG. Initially, even ECG seemed fine with minor hint towards LVH and so was visible on x-ray, a big heart. But a repeat ECG showed intermittent AF. Upon further evaluation, discovered that the patient was actually suffering from heart failure with LVEF = 25% merely. This was a much more serious condition than was initially suspected, and it required immediate attention and treatment.
TEE further revealed a clot in LAA. We immediately began working to stabilize the patient's condition and to develop a comprehensive treatment plan to manage the heart failure. Since, she could have collapsed anytime now.
While the situation was certainly concerning, we were able to provide effective care and support for our patient, and she’s now on the road to recovery.
PS: Such cases are on a rise and are common these days, especially among youth. The so called “sudden cardiac death”.
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