Pericardial effusion and tamponade
(Redirected from Pericardial effusion)
Background
- Always consider in patient with PEA
- Always consider in patient with penetrating trauma anywhere in the cardiac box (80% result in tamponade)
- Gun shot wounds are less likely to result in tamponade because pericardial defect is larger
- Right ventricle is the most commonly injured chamber of the heart due to its anatomic location[1]
- Pathophysiology
- Increased pericardial pressure > decreased RV filling > decreased cardiac output
Etiology
- Hemopericardium
- Trauma
- Iatrogenic (misplaced central line)
- Bleeding diathesis
- Ventricular rupture (post-MI)
- Non-hemopericardium
- Cancer - most commonly lung, breast, prostate, or hematologic
- Melanoma has predilection for heart
- May be related to radiation, infection, chemotherapy
- Pericarditis
- Infectious
- Uremic (renal failure)
- HIV complications (infection, Kaposi sarcoma, lymphoma)
- SLE and other autoimmune or connective tissue disorders
- Post-radiation
- Myxedema
- Cancer - most commonly lung, breast, prostate, or hematologic
Clinical Features
- Chest pain, shortness of breath, cough, fatigue
- CHF-type appearance
- Tachycardia
- Narrow pulse pressure
- Friction rub
- Pulsus paradoxus (dec in BP on inspiration)
- Beck's Triad (33% of patients)
- Hypotension
- Muffled heart sounds
- JVD
Differential Diagnosis
Chest pain
Critical
- Acute coronary syndromes (ACS)
- Aortic dissection
- Cardiac tamponade
- Coronary artery dissection
- Esophageal perforation (Boerhhaave's syndrome)
- Pulmonary embolism
- Tension pneumothorax
Emergent
- Cholecystitis
- Cocaine-associated chest pain
- Mediastinitis
- Myocardial rupture
- Myocarditis
- Pancreatitis
- Pericarditis
- Pneumothorax
Nonemergent
- Aortic stenosis
- Arthritis
- Asthma exacerbation
- Biliary colic
- Costochondritis
- Esophageal spasm
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease
- Herpes zoster / Postherpetic Neuralgia
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Hyperventilation
- Mitral valve prolapse
- Panic attack
- Peptic ulcer disease
- Pleuritis
- Pneumomediastinum
- Pneumonia
- Rib fracture
- Stable angina
- Thoracic outlet syndrome
- Valvular heart disease
- Muscle sprain
- Psychologic / Somatic Chest Pain
- Spinal Root Compression
- Tumor
Evaluation
Pulsus Paradoxus
- >10mmHg change in systolic BP on inspiration
CXR
- Enlarged cardiac silhouette
ECG
- Often normal
- Tachycardia (bradycardia is ominous finding)
- Electrical alternans
- Low voltage
- All limb lead QRS amplitudes <5 mm or I+II+III<15;[2]
- OR All precordial QRS amplitudes <10 mm or V1+V2+V3<30
Ultrasound
- Pericardial effusion
- In acute cases, even a relatively small build up of pericardial fluid can lead to hemodynamic compromise
- Differentiate pericardial effusion from pleural effusion using the parasternal long axis view. Pericardial effusions will have an anechoic stripe between the left atrium and descending thoracic aorta. In a pleural effusion, the stripe will be seen behind the descending thoracic aorta.[3]
- Classical ultrasound findings
- Diastolic collapse of the right atrium (in atrial diastole)
- Diastolic collapse of the right ventricle
- Plethoric IVC (highly sensitive but low specificity)[4]
- Evaluating systolic vs. diastolic phases with M-mode
- Position in PSL view with M-mode line through where RV appears to collapse
- Allow M-mode line to pass through where the anterior MV hits the septum in diastole (much like evaluation of EPSS - see Formal echocardiography)
- The period of time where the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve is open (and closest to the septum) is the period of diastole. Evaluate the anterior free wall of the right ventricle for collapse. The longer period of collapse during diastole is an indicator for advanced tamponade physiology
- Valvular pulsus paradoxus
- Obtain apical 4-chamber view, place doppler indicator in either MV or TV location
- Doppler interrogation across the mitral valve will demonstrate exaggerated respiratory variability of transvalvular flow
- MV inflow respiratory variation, difference from highest velocity to lowest, as a percentage of highest velocity[5]
- > 25%, likely tamponade physiology
- > 40% for tricuspid inflow variation
- Helpful in thickened RV and RA from longstanding pulmonary hypertensive patients
Management
Hemorrhagic Tamponade
- Can occur if ECG read as STEMI/NSTEMI and heparin started
- Pericardiocentesis
- Temporizing measure until thoracotomy can be performed
- IVF to increase RV volume and maintain preload
- Medications
- Pressors (temporizing)
- Avoid preload reducing medications (nitroglycerin, diuretics)
Non-hemorrhagic Tamponade
- IVF bolus of 500-1000 ml (patient is pre-load dependent)
- Pericardiocentesis is definitive treatment
- Dialysis for patients with known renal failure
Disposition
- To OR if traumatic and hemodynamically unstable
- Admit with cardiology/CT surgery consult
See Also
External Links
References
- ↑ Gunay C, et al. Surgical challenges for urgent approach in penetrating heart injuries. Heart Surg Forum. 2007;10(6):E473-E477. doi:10.1532/HSF98.20071098
- ↑ Mattu A, Brady W. ECGs for the Emergency Physician 2, BMJ Books 2008.
- ↑ Randazzo MR et al. Acad Emerg Med, 2003. PMID: 12957982
- ↑ What echocardiographic findings suggest a pericardial effusion is causing tamponade? Am J Emerg Med. 2019 Feb;37(2):321-326. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2018.11.004. Epub 2018 Nov 17.
- ↑ Rajagopalan N, Garcia MJ, Rodriguez L, Murray RD, Apperson-Hansen C, Stugaard M, Thomas JD, and Klein AL. Comparison of new Doppler echocardiographic methods to differentiate constrictive pericardial heart disease and restrictive cardiomyopathy. Am J Cardiol. 2001 Jan 1;87(1):86-94.