Cor Vasa 2017, 59(5):e485-e487

Type II complex regional pain syndrome resulting in a persistent contracture of the left hand: A severe side effect of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring

Jiří Pudich^a,b,*, Jiří Plášek^a,b, Miroslav Homza^a,b

^a Kardiovaskulární oddělení, Fakultní nemocnice Ostrava, Ostrava, Česká republika

^b Lékařská fakulta, Ostravská univerzita, Ostrava, Česká republika

In this paper, we report a case of a 64-year-old woman who developed a type II complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS, also known as Sudeck's dystrophy, Reflex sympathetic dystrophy, shoulder-hand syndrome) as a result of a routine ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in a patient on anticoagulation therapy with renal insufficiency probably aggravated by an episode of a respiratory tract infection immediately preceding the ABPM. However, as such, a severe complication of this procedure was not expected, and as CRPS is not routinely encountered by cardiologists, the correct diagnosis was unfortunately established late and the patient developed a permanent contracture of the left hand. The aim of this paper is to make the readers aware of the possibility of CRPS arising as a complication of a routine procedure and hopefully to facilitate an early diagnosis in similar cases in the future, which is a key to effective treatment.

Keywords: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring; Complication; Sudeck's dystrophy; Type II CRPS

Received: June 24, 2016; Revised: July 20, 2016; Accepted: August 2, 2016; Published: October 1, 2017  Show citation