Coronary artery perforation is a rare but catastrophic complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Grade III coronary perforation and rupture invariably results in pericardial effusion and tamponade requiring urgent pericardiocentesis. Advances in coronary intervention have increased the opportunity to treat coronary artery perforation. We are reporting a case of 55 years old hype...

Ultrasound-guided procedures are becoming very common in emergency medicine and critical care. Ultrasound guidance for pericardiocentesis has been shown to reduce errors as compared with the landmark-based technique. A simplified in-plane ultrasound-guided pericardiocentesis allows the clinician an opportunity to visualize the needle and the guide wire during the procedure. In addition, post pr...

Echocardiography-guided pericardiocentesis is a procedure commonly performed by cardiologist to evaluate pericardial effusions. It is generally considered a relatively safe procedure with minimal complications and a high success rate [1–3]. However, a safe approach to the pericardial effusion may on occasion not be possible. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is capable of better visualization of the ...

Background—Low-pressure cardiac tamponade is a form of cardiac tamponade in which a comparatively low pericardial pressure results in cardiac compression because of low filling pressure. This syndrome is poorly characterized because only isolated cases have been reported. We conducted a study of its clinical and hemodynamic profiles. Methods and Results—From 1986 through 2004, we evaluated all ...