Cardiac tamponade in a patient with primary hypothyroidism

Pericardial effusion is frequently found in patients with hypothyroidism, but it is rarely associated with cardiac tamponade. Hypothyroidism complicated by cardiac tamponade is rarely referenced in the medical literature. Here we report an unusual case of a 45-year-old female, who presented with breathlessness and was found to have hypothyroidism with large pericardial effusion with cardiac tamponade. Treatment included an emergency pericardiocentesis followed by thyroxine hormone replacement.