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Updated: Sep 11, 2025

Murine Echocardiography of Left Atrium, Aorta, and Pulmonary Artery
Published on: February 20, 2017
An unusual cause of left atrium compression by ultrasound: A case report
1Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guian Hospital, Guiyang, China.
Rationale:
Cirrhosis is a chronic liver disease that affects millions of people worldwide. Patients with cirrhosis are at increased risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding, a life-threatening complication.
Patient Concerns:
A 34-year-old male with cirrhosis was admitted to the emergency department with symptoms of vomiting fresh blood and dizziness. He developed extensive upper gastrointestinal bleeding and was treated with a Sengstaken-Blakemore tube (SBT), followed by unexplained sharp fluctuations in heart rate and blood pressure.
Diagnoses:
Transthoracic echocardiography revealed that the SBT tube had shifted and compressed the heart.
Interventions:
The SBT was extracted under an endoscope.
Outcomes:
After treatment, he received a good prognosis.
Lessons:
The SBT tube displacement was found through transthoracic echocardiography to avoid more serious complications ultrasound technology is a noninvasive and visual technology, which has great value in many disciplines.
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