Cardiovascular
Case 13: A Pregnant Woman with Left‐Sided Chest Pain
CASE
A 36‐year‐old woman who is 38 weeks pregnant is admitted with a history of some left‐sided pleuritic chest pain. This is worse on inspiration. She denies having a fever or cough. She feels more short of breath lately. She usually enjoys good health and her pregnancy has been uneventful.
On examination she is alert and orientated. Her BP is 105/60 mmHg, pulse 95 beats/min, SpO2 is 95% on room air and respiratory rate is 20 breaths/min. Heart examination reveals a soft systolic murmur over the sternum. Chest sounds are clear but she clearly has pain on deep inspiration. There is no tenderness in her calves.
Arterial blood gas levels are as follows:
pH 7.46 PaO2 11.8 kPa PaCO2 4.1 kPa Base excess +3 HCO3 20 mmol/L
ECG shows sinus rhythm and borderline left axis deviation.
QUESTION 1
Your score this session: 0 of 0
What is the explanation for the low BP, high respiratory rate and low aCO?