Defying Occam's Razor: A Case of Pulmonary Embolism Masked By Cardiac Tamponade

Occam's razor instructs physicians to assume one single cause for multiple symptoms, whereas Hickam's dictum encourages them to suspect multiple concurrent pathologies. Although the general practice is to follow Occam's razor, occasionally Hickam's dictum reigns supreme. Here we present one such case, where the concurrent presence of two life-threatening pathologies posed clinical challenges in diagnosis and management.
Source: The Journal of Emergency Medicine - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Clinical Communications: Adult Source Type: research