Cardiac Tmponade

Cardiac tamponade is an excess fluid in the pericardial sac. It compromises ventricular filling and decreases output.

Risk Factors:

• Pericarditis
• Malignancy
• SLE
• TB
• Trauma

Signs and Symptoms:

• Fatigue, dyspnea, tachycardia and tachypnea that worsen rapidly and causes shock and death
• Beek's triad (hypotension, distant heart sound, and distended neck veins)
• Narrow pulse pressure
• Pulsus paradoxus
• Kussmaul's sign (JVD on inspiration)

Treatments:

• Aggressive volume expansion with IV fluids
• Pericardiocentesis immediately
• Balloon pericardotomy
• Pericardial window