What is pericardial effusion – Cardiology Basics
What is pericardial effusion – Cardiology Basics
Pericardial effusion is collection of fluid between the visceral and parietal layers of the pericardium. If the amount of pericardial fluid is large or there is a rapid increase in the amount of pericardial fluid, compression of the heart prevents its proper filling. This reduces cardiac output and causes hypotension and is known as cardiac tamponade.
Cardiac tamponade needs urgent pericardial aspiration or surgical drainage if the fluid is very thick. Very thick fluid can be there in purulent bacterial pericarditis. Sometimes it can be a hemopericardium due to bleeding into the pericardial cavity. This occurs most commonly in malignant pericardial effusion. Usually it is secondary spread of malignancy rather than primary malignancy of the pericardium or mesothelioma, which is very rare.
An important type of bacterial infection which causes pericardial effusion is tuberculosis. It may or may not be associated with tuberculosis elsewhere in the body. Tuberculous pericardial effusion can be documented by aspirating the fluid and culturing the fluid for the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. After draining the pericardial fluid, tuberculous pericardial effusion needs full course of antituberculous therapy.
If the cause is a malignancy, in addition to draining the pericardial fluid, the primary malignancy has to be treated. This may include chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, depending on the type of malignancy. Malign...
Source: Cardiophile MD - Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
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