by gwolf_ » Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:57 am
This is from one of my physician clients who i happened to be meeting with today:
It is highly unlikely to be something like AAA (too distal to cause the s/s in this patient). Stenosis is a possibility or some kind of involvement of the aortic root/arch. More likely might be an interesting presentation of peripheral vascular disease (think horses, not zebras). Knowing the exact difference in blood pressure could be useful. Additionally, prior surgical history, especially in the affected arm, could also be useful (for example, it is possible that the patient has had the radial artery removed and the pulse/bp was diminished as a result... I saw a patient who had this procedure performed for some kind of cardiac revascularization procedure). It is difficult to construct a clear differential based on the history and exam provided... other information like lower extremity pulses, JVP, cardiac exam (rate, normal S1/S2, presence of S3/S4, size/location of PMI, etc.) may be helpful along with a pulmonary exam.
This is from one of my physician clients who i happened to be meeting with today:
It is highly unlikely to be something like AAA (too distal to cause the s/s in this patient). Stenosis is a possibility or some kind of involvement of the aortic root/arch. More likely might be an interesting presentation of peripheral vascular disease (think horses, not zebras). Knowing the exact difference in blood pressure could be useful. Additionally, prior surgical history, especially in the affected arm, could also be useful (for example, it is possible that the patient has had the radial artery removed and the pulse/bp was diminished as a result... I saw a patient who had this procedure performed for some kind of cardiac revascularization procedure). It is difficult to construct a clear differential based on the history and exam provided... other information like lower extremity pulses, JVP, cardiac exam (rate, normal S1/S2, presence of S3/S4, size/location of PMI, etc.) may be helpful along with a pulmonary exam.