Cardiac tamponade Health Article

Definition

Cardiac tamponade is the compression of the heart that occurs when blood or fluid builds up in the space between the myocardium (the muscle of the heart) and the pericardium (the outer covering sac of the heart).

Alternative Names

Tamponade; Pericardial tamponade

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

In this condition, blood or fluid collects within the pericardium. This prevents the ventricles from expanding fully. They cannot fill enough or pump blood.

Cardiac tamponade can occur due to:

• Dissecting aortic aneurysm (thoracic)
• End-stage lung cancer
• Heart attack (acute MI)
• Heart surgery
• Pericarditis caused by bacterial or viral infections
• Wounds to the heart

Other potential causes include:

• Heart tumors
• Hypothyroidism
• Kidney failure
• Radiation therapy to the chest
• Recent invasive heart procedures
• Recent open heart surgery
• Systemic lupus erythematosus

Cardiac tamponade occurs in approximately 2 out of 10,000 people.

Symptoms

• Anxiety, restlessness
• Chest pain
  • Radiating to the neck, shoulder, back, or abdomen
  • Sharp, stabbing
  • Worsened by deep breathing or coughing
• Difficulty breathing
• Discomfort, sometimes relieved by sitting upright or leaning forward
• Fainting, light-headedness
• Pale, gray, or blue skin
• Palpitations
• Rapid breathing
• Swelling of the abdomen or other areas

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:

• Dizziness
• Drowsiness
• Low blood pressure
• Weak or absent pulse

Signs and tests

There are no specific laboratory tests that diagnose tamponade. Echocardiogram is the first choice to help establish the diagnosis.

Signs:

• Blood pressure may fall (pulsus paradoxical) when the person inhales deeply
• Breathing may be rapid (faster than 12 breaths in an adult per minute)
• Heart rate may be over 100 (normal is 60 to 100 beats per minute)
• Heart sounds faint during examination with a stethoscope
• Neck veins may be abnormally extended (distended) but the blood pressure may be low
• Peripheral pulses may be weak or absent

Other tests may include:

• Chest CT or MRI of chest
• Chest x-ray
• Coronary angiography
• ECG