Cardiac tamponade

[Hina Muqadas]

Cardiac tamponade is pressure on the heart by blood or fluid that accumulates in the two-layered sac around the heart (pericardium). This disorder interferes with the hearts ability to pump blood.

People typically feel light-headed and short of breath, and they may faint.
The diagnosis is based on symptoms, examination results, and usually ultrasonography of the heart (echocardiography) done in the emergency department.
Blood is drained from around the heart using a needle and sometimes surgery.

(See also Introduction to Chest Injuries.)
In cardiac tamponade, fluid or blood accumulates between the two layers of the pericardium, which then tightly squeezes the heart. This pressure can prevent the heart from filling with blood. As a result, less blood is pumped to the body, sometimes causing shock (with blood pressure becoming dangerously low) and death.
The most common causes are rupture of an aortic aneurysm (a bulge in the wall of the aorta), advanced lung cancer, acute pericarditis (inflammation of the pericardium), a heart attack, and heart surgery.
Chest injuries can also cause cardiac tamponade. The most common such injuries are stab wounds. Blunt injuries that tear the wall of the heart can cause tamponade, but many people with such injuries die before they can be brought for medical treatment.