Pericardial effusion is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the pericardial cavity. Because of the limited amount of space in the pericardial cavity, fluid accumulation will lead to an increased intrapericardial pressure and this can negatively affect heart function. When there is a pericardial effusion with enough pressure to adversely affect heart function, this is called cardiac tamponade. Pericardial effusion usually results from a disturbed equilibrium between the production and re-absorbtion of pericardial fluid, or from a structural abnormality that allows fluid to enter the pericardial cavity. The pericardium is a double-walled sac that contains the heart and the roots of the great vessels. ... A subset of the phases of matter, fluids include liquids, gases, plasmas and, to some extent, plastic solids. ... The heart and lungs (from an older edition of Grays Anatomy) The heart (Latin cor) is a hollow, muscular organ that pumps blood through the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions. ... Cardiac tamponade is a medical emergency condition where a large amount of a liquid accumulates in the pericardium in a relatively short time. ...
Abstract: PURPOSE: To examine whether the size of the effusion, the presence of tamponade, and inflammatory signs are useful in determining the causes of moderate or severe pericardial effusions.SUBJECTS AND METHODS: All echocardiograms performed at a general hospital between January 1990 and April 1996 were screened for pericardialeffusion.
The examination of pericardial tissue was useful in the diagnosis of 13 (23%) patients, 8 of whom had an infectious agent cultured.
It is concluded that echocardiographically determined effusion size is a powerful predictor of outcome in hospitalized patients with pericardialeffusion, and that right-sided chamber collapse and IVC plethora with blunted response to respiration add little if any additional prognostic information.
Other neoplasms associated with pericardialeffusion are ectopic (heartbase) thyroid carcinoma, mesothelioma of the pericardium, and metastatic carcinoma to the heart or pericardium.A well recognized but uncommon cause of intrapericardial hemorrhage in small breed dogs is left atrial tear secondary to severe chronic endocardiosis of the mitral valve.
Pericardialeffusion can be differentiated from peripheral blood in that it rarely clots unless it is from very recent hemorrhage and the PCV is significantly lower than that of peripheral blood.
With idiopathic hemorrhagic pericardialeffusion, pericardiocentesis is curative in approximately 50% of the cases.
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