Pericardial effusion is a common finding in clinical practice either as incidental finding or manifestation of a systemic or cardiac disease. The spectrum of pericardial effusions ranges from mild asymptomatic effusions to cardiac tamponade. The aetiology is varied (infectious, neoplastic, autoimmune, metabolic, and drug-related), being tuberculosis the leading cause of pericardial effusions in...

We report a case of a 75-year-old male with history of lung adenocarcinoma who presented with shortness of breath and frequent episodes of cough-induced syncope. A large pericardial effusion was found on echocardiogram suggestive of cardiac tamponade. Pericardiocentesis was done which improved the dyspnea and eventually resolved the syncope. There are only two other cases reported in the litera...

INTRODUCTION The cardiac manifestations of influenza A are broad, ranging from self-limited pericarditis to fatal cardiomyopathy. The 2009 H1N1 influenza A (H1N1) strain is a rare cause of pericarditis, and its role in developing a pericardial effusion leading to tamponade has infrequently been reported. CASE PRESENTATION We describe a case of a young female with no prior cardiovascular histo...

Urothelial carcinoma in a few cases may result in cardiac metastasis. A rare presentation of this condition is its diagnosis as a result of cardiac tamponade. Tamponade is an unusual entity as a result of urothelial carcinoma and has only been reported in four cases. There have also been only a total of fifteen cases of cardiac metastasis from this form of malignancy. It is through this discuss...

A 65-year-old man was admitted to his local hospital with troponin-positive acute coronary syndrome. The patient developed signs of acute heart failure and was immediately transferred to our center. Echocardiography demonstrated a pericardial mass (8 5 cm) with compression of the right atrium (Figure 1 and online-only Data Supplement Movie I) and a reduced contractility of the posterior left ve...

Left ventricular free wall rupture is an uncommon but catastrophic event caused by acute myocardial infarction. In most of the cases, acute rupture results in cardiac tamponade and shock which is usually fatal within few minutes. Only immediate diagnosis and surgery can increase the survival rate. We report the case of the acute left ventricular free wall rupture, which was treated surgically w...

An 82-year-old male with a history of hypertension presented with resting dyspnea and orthopnea of 72 hours duration. At admission blood pressure was 145/75 mm Hg and respiratory rate was 30 beats/min. Jugular venous pressure was increased and heart sounds were diminished and arrhythmic. Pulmonary auscultation revealed absent breath sounds over the left lung base. Electrocardiogram showed atria...

H aemodynamic abnormalities, caused by pericardial effusion, range from undetectable or mild, to life threatening, depending on the determinants discussed below. These include the rate at which the effusion accumulates and whether or not the pericardium is scarred and thus adds an element of constrictive pericarditis. Pericardial adhesions or organisation of the fluid can result in localised, a...