Cardiac failure and the deer horn sign

Case contributed by Ashesh Ishwarlal Ranchod
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

Known congestive cardiac failure presenting with abdominal distention, dyspnea and pedal edema.

Patient Data

Age: 35 years
Gender: Male
ultrasound

Ultrasound confirms features of biventricular cardiac decompensation demonstrated by the presence of a pericardial effusion, bilateral pleural effusions, and ascites.

There is a dilated IVC and dilated hepatic veins giving rise to the deer horn sign.

Annotated images

ultrasound

The head, ears and horns of the deer horn are the dilated IVC, hepatic veins and feeding branches respectively.

Case Discussion

An example of the deer horn sign.

This is due to biventricular cardiac decompensation in a young patient with passive congestive hepatopathy.

How to use cases

You can use Radiopaedia cases in a variety of ways to help you learn and teach.

Creating your own cases is easy.

Updating… Please wait.

 Unable to process the form. Check for errors and try again.

 Thank you for updating your details.