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Updated: Apr 20, 2026

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Visualizing the Beating Heart in Drosophila
Published on: September 28, 2009
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The dancing heart
J D Richardson1, A J Turley1, R A Wright2
1Cardiothoracic Division, James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, UK.
European Heart Journal. Acute Cardiovascular Care
|December 3, 2014
Abstract:
A woman with palliative breast cancer presents with dyspnoea and is noted to have an unusual electrocardiogram, with an alternating electrical axis observed. Subsequent echocardiogram demonstrates the classical findings of a large pericardial effusion causing 'electrical alternans' aptly illustrating why this rare phenomenon occurs.
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