Case Report
Copyright ©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Cardiol. May 26, 2014; 6(5): 345-348
Published online May 26, 2014. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v6.i5.345
Long-lasting symptoms and diagnostics in a patient with unrecognized right sided heart failure: Why listening to the heart is so important
Liesbeth C de Vette, Jasper J Brugts, Jacky S McGhie, Jolien W Roos-Hesselink
Liesbeth C de Vette, Jasper J Brugts, Jacky S McGhie, Jolien W Roos-Hesselink, Department of Cardiology, Erasmus MC, 230 3015 CE Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Author contributions: de Vette LC, Brugts JJ, McGhie JS and Roos-Hesselink JW wrote the manuscript, interpretated the clinical data and echocardiographic data, and approved the final version of the manuscript,
Correspondence to: Jolien W Roos-Hesselink, Professor, Department of Cardiology, Erasmus MC, Thoraxcentre‘s Gravendijkwal, 230 3015 CE Rotterdam, The Netherlands. j.brugts@erasmusmc.nl
Telephone: +31-10-8003938 Fax: +31-10-8003939
Received: December 21, 2013
Revised: February 10, 2014
Accepted: March 13, 2014
Published online: May 26, 2014
Processing time: 181 Days and 1.8 Hours
Abstract

M Ebstein is usually diagnosed in early childhood or adolescence. The young woman in our case complainted of fatigue and shortness of breath, on physical examination she showed signs of heart failure with raised central venous pressure, palpable liver, an a cardiac murmer. Based on these findings she should have been referred to a cardiologist in an early stage after which transthoracic echocardiography resulted in the correct diagnosis. In this case the anomaly was missed for many years by different specialists and the patient was treated for liver disease, while she was suffering from liver congestion due to right-sided heart failure.

Keywords: Ebstein; Congenital cardiology; Auscultation; Pregnancy; Liver

Core tip: The young woman in our case complainted of fatigue and shortness of breath, on physical examination she showed signs of heart failure with raised central venous pressure, palpable liver, an a cardiac murmer. Based on these findings she should have been referred to a cardiologist in an early stage after which transthoracic echocardiography resulted in the correct diagnosis.