Acute Pericardial Disease

Acute pericardial diseases include acute pericarditis and cardiac tamponade. Both conditions can be associated with acute hemodynamic instability or cardiac failure and require immediate diagnostic workup and treatment. The pericardium surrounds the heart with two layers. The outer fi brous layer is called the parietal pericardium; the inner layer, which covers the cardiac surface, is the serous visceral pericardium. The pericardium is attached to the sternum and diaphragm by ligamentous bindings. Up to 50 mL of fl uid produced by visceral pericardial cells is normally present in the pericardial space (1). The pericardium can be affected by a wide variety of microorganisms, a nonspecifi c infl ammatory process, and various heart and systemic diseases. Irrespective of the etiology, clinical manifestations of the pericardial diseases correspond the pericardial infl ammation, pericardial effusion with cardiac tamponade, and pericardial constriction due to calcifi cations (2).