Cardiac tamponade

Cardiac tamponade is a medical emergency.

May be a complication of any disorder that results in pericardial effusion. In people from endemic regions, tuberculosis pericarditis remains a prominent cause of pericardial effusion and tamponade.

Presenting symptoms range from mild dyspnoea and atypical chest pain to cardiogenic shock. Clinical signs include: tachycardia, hypotension, distant heart sounds, raised jugular venous pressure, and a pulsus paradoxus (>10 mmHg variation in systolic blood pressure with inspiration).

Echocardiography is essential for evaluation.

Rapidly fatal if not promptly drained through needle pericardiocentesis or surgical drainage of the pericardium.

Cardiac tamponade, also known as pericardial tamponade, is the accumulation of pericardial fluid, blood, pus, or air within the pericardial space (pericardial effusion) that causes an increase in intra-pericardial pressure, restricting cardiac filling and decreasing cardiac output. It is a medical emergency and can be rapidly fatal if it is not promptly diagnosed and treated.[1]LeWinter MM, Kabbani S. Pericardial diseases. In: Zipes DP, Libby P, Bonow P, et al. Braunwald's heart disease: a textbook of cardiovascular medicine. 7th ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 2005:1757-1781. The diagnosis of cardiac tamponade is based on clinical suspicion and supported by evidence of haemodynamic compromise on echocardiography.[2]Kearns MJ, Walley KR. Tamponade: hemodynamic and echocardiographic diagnosis. Chest. 2018 May;153(5):1266-75. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29137910?tool=bestpractice.com

See Assessment of pericardial effusion.