N Engl J Med. 2003;349(7):684-90. 5. Ben-horin S ... Textbook of Clinical Echocardiography, Expert Consult - Online and
PERICARDIAL EFFUSION & TAMPONADE
Mark Tuttle 2017
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY ● The pericardial sac normally contains 15–35 ml of serous fluid distributed mostly over the atrioventricular and interventricular grooves ● As a result of its relatively inelastic physical properties, the pericardium limits acute cardiac dilatation and enhances mechanical interactions of the cardiac chambers ● The hemodynamic importance of a pericardial effusions is determined by the rate of fluid accumulation and overall fluid volume o Chronic: Can accommodate > 1 L of fluid without tamponade physiology o Acute: As little as 100-200ml of fluid can cause tamponade physiology CLASSIFICATION ● In general pericardial effusions can be classified into the following types: transudate, exudates, hemopericardium, chylopericardium, pyopericardium (pus), pneumopericardium ETIOLOGY ● The most common causes of moderate to large effusions in developed countries: idiopathic/viral (30-40%), iatrogenic (16%), malignancy (13%), post-MI (8%), uremia (6%), bacterial/MTB infection (6%), collagen vascular disease (5%), hypothyroidism (2%) ● Causes of hemodynamically significant pericardial effusions (dyspnea, tachycardia, tamponade) from a study of 173 patients with pericardicentesis5 o Neoplastic: 33% (20% new diagnosis of malignancy) o Chronic-idiopathic: 14% o Acute pericarditis: 12% o Traumatic: 12% o Bacterial: 4% ● In developing countries tuberculosis is the leading cause of pericardial effusion (up to 60% of cases) CLINICAL FEATURES: Highly variable and dependent on the speed of pericardial fluid accumulation ● Classic symptoms include dyspnea progressing to orthopnea, and chest pain/fullness ● Additional symptoms which can occur due to compression of local structures include: o Nausea (diaphragm) o Dysphagia (esophagus) o Hoarseness (recurrent laryngeal nerve) o Hiccups (phrenic nerve) ● Beck’s triad (late findings): hypotension, distended neck veins, muffled heart sounds ● Elevated Pulsus Paradoxus: Patients with current or impending hemodynamic compromise have an exaggerated pulsus paradoxus (normally 10 mmHg in tamponade is due to exaggerated ventricular interdependence when overall volume of cardiac chambers becomes fixed and any change in the volume of one side of the heart causes the opposite changes in the other side o To measure the pulsus, record the systolic pressure at which Korotkoff sounds are first audible only during expiration and the systolic pressure at which they are audible through the whole respiratory cycle ● Depending on the etiology of the pericardial effusion; fever, chills or evidence of malignancy may be present DIAGNOSIS ● EKG: Low-voltage (20mm ● CXR: an enlarged, globular heart may be present if chronic ● Cardiac tamponade should be diagnosed clinically through evaluation of jugular venous pressure, tachycardia, dyspnea, and paradoxical arterial pulse. Blood pressure may be normal, decreased, or even elevated. Hypotension is a LATE finding. ● The diagnosis of cardiac tamponade can be confirmed by echocardiogram by observing the following findings: diastolic collapse of the RA, abnormal respiratory variations of LV and RV dimensions, abnormal respiratory variation of tricuspid and mitral velocity usually in combination of IVC prominence o Perhaps the most specific (100%) and sensitive (>90%) parameter is the duration of RA inversion as measured by
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PERICARDIAL EFFUSION & TAMPONADE
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Mark Tuttle 2017
the RA inversion time index (duration of inversion/cardiac cycle length). The cutoff value for the aforementioned specificity and sensitivity is >0.34. The recommended diagnostic work up includes: o Chest x-ray o Evaluation of tuberculosis risk factors o Thyroid function tests o ESR, CRP o Anti-nuclear antibodies o Pericardiocentesis if the effusion is large and unexplained or if there is a high suspicion for a malignant or purulent process o Consider pericardial biopsy if workup remains non-diagnostic Pericardial fluid analysis o Light’s criteria not generally helpful since nearly all effusions are exudative ▪ Israeli study of 120 effusions showed 118/120 met Light’s criteria for exudate6 o Appropriate studies include: cell count w/ differential, specific gravity, LDH, total protein, glucose, cytology, Gram/fungal/AF staining, appropriate cultures ▪ Exudative effusions have the following properties: specific gravity >1.015, fluid protein/serum protein >0.5, fluid LDH/serum LDH >0.6, ▪ Rheumatoid and bacterial effusions tend to have the highest percentage of neutrophils. ▪ Purulent effusions with positive cultures often have glucose levels 12 mmHg in a patient with a large pericardial effusion is 98% sensitive, of 83% specific, and a positive LR of 5.9 ■ > 10 mmHg has a positive LR of 3.3 ■ 25% with tidal inspiration. References 1. Little WC, Freeman GL. Pericardial disease. Circulation. 2006;113:1622–32. 2. Imazio M. Contemporary management of pericardial diseases. Curr Opin Cardiol. 2012;27(3):308-317. 3. Imazio M, Adler Y. Management of pericardial effusion. Eur Heart J. 2013;34(16):1186-1197. 4. Spodick DH. Acute cardiac tamponade. N Engl J Med. 2003;349(7):684-90. 5. Ben-horin S, Bank I, Guetta V, Livneh A. Large symptomatic pericardial effusion as the presentation of unrecognized cancer: a study in 173 consecutive patients undergoing pericardiocentesis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2006;85(1):49-53. 6. Ben-horin S, Bank I, Shinfeld A, Kachel E, Guetta V, Livneh A. Diagnostic value of the biochemical composition of pericardial
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PERICARDIAL EFFUSION & TAMPONADE
Mark Tuttle 2017
effusions in patients undergoing pericardiocentesis. Am J Cardiol. 2007;99(9):1294-7. 7. Otto CM. Textbook of Clinical Echocardiography, Expert Consult - Online and Print. Elsevier Health Sciences; 2013. 8. Lang R, Goldstein SA, Kronzon I et al. ASE’s Comprehensive Echocardiography. Elsevier Health Sciences; 2015.
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