Small Vein Pulsations: An Overlooked Sign of Poor Prognosis

In 1925, Dr.’s Kerr and Warren described the association of peripheral vein pulsations secondary to severe heart failure and tricuspid insufficiency, with mortality.1 This valuable sign has been largely overlooked by both modern-day medical textbooks, and the bedside physical exam. In the era of technology, audio and video recordings of examination findings are useful for clinical teaching. Only one online video recording of an extreme manifestation of the above phenomenon exists.2 The objective of this report is to remind clinicians of the prognostic value of pulsating non-central veins, and provide a video recording of this finding.