Cardiac Tamponade Quiz
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Fatigued
Shortness of breath
Tightening in the chest
Fatigue
Difficulty breathing
Chest feels tight
Feel weak
Not seeing your symptoms? No worries!
What is Cardiac Tamponade?
Cardiac tamponade is a severe medical emergency where blood or fluid fills the space around your heart, compressing it and preventing it from effectively pumping blood to other organs.
Typical Symptoms of Cardiac Tamponade
- Breathing is harder when lying down, improves when sitting up
- Fainting
- History of connective tissue, autoimmune or rheumatic disease
- Difficulty breathing
- Breathlessness before losing consciousness
- Have ever fainted after standing up
- Episode of low blood pressure
- Sensation of pressure in the chest
Diagnostic Questions for Cardiac Tamponade
Your doctor may ask these questions to check for this disease:
- Does your breathing improve when you sit up from lying down?
- Have you fainted recently?
- Have you ever been diagnosed with a connective tissue, autoimmune, or rheumatic disease?
- Are you experiencing difficulty breathing?
- Did you have difficulty breathing before passing out?
Treatment of Cardiac Tamponade
This is a medical emergency, and the fluid compressing the heart must be removed as soon as possible. Pericardiocentesis is the most common procedure doctors use to remove the fluid and treat cardiac tamponade. Fluid drainage is performed using a needle and a small catheter.
Reviewed By:
Maxwell J. Nanes, DO (Emergency Medicine)
Dr Nanes received a doctorate from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and went on to complete a residency in emergency medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. There he trained at Froedtert Hospital and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in the practice of adult and pediatric emergency medicine. He was a chief resident and received numerous awards for teaching excellence during his time there. | | After residency he took a job at a community hospital where he and his colleagues worked through the toughest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
Tatsuya Shiraishi, MD (Cardiology)
Dr. Shiraishi graduated from the Kyoto University School of Medicine. He worked as a cardiologist at Edogawa Hospital, and after joining Ubie, he became the Director of East Nihonbashi Internal Medicine Clinic.
Content updated on May 13, 2024
Following the Medical Content Editorial Policy
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- Blacking out
- Feel anxiety suddenly
- Felt nauseous then fainted
- Shortness of breath when lying down
- Sweating followed by fainting
- Fainting followed by a headache
- Breathing out is easy but breathing in is difficult
- Fainting when walking
- Chest pain with fainting
- Wake up in the middle of the night with shortness of breath
- Feeling faint before losing consciousness
- Confused or drowsy for a while after recovering consciousness
- Feeling that I am suffocating and will die from the breathlessness
- Fainting when tired
- Fainted but retained the ability to recall fainting
See full list
Symptoms Related to Cardiac Tamponade
Diseases Related to Cardiac Tamponade
FAQs
Q.
Chest Pressure? The Reality of Cardiac Tamponade & Medical Next Steps
A.
Chest pressure has many causes; one rare but life-threatening emergency is cardiac tamponade, where fluid around the heart prevents proper filling and can trigger shortness of breath, fainting, and low blood pressure. Seek emergency care immediately if symptoms are sudden, severe, or worsening. There are several factors to consider for your next steps. See below for key warning signs, how doctors confirm tamponade with echocardiogram and other tests, what immediate treatments like pericardiocentesis involve, and other common causes of chest pressure that may change what you should do now.
References:
* Nazemian K, Vashist T, Jha V, Sharma K, Singh M. Cardiac Tamponade: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management. Heart Fail Clin. 2020 Feb;16(1):153-162. doi: 10.1016/j.hfc.2019.08.007. Epub 2019 Sep 30. PMID: 31767117.
* Adler Y, Charron P, Imazio M, et al. 2015 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of pericardial diseases: The Task Force for the Diagnosis and Management of Pericardial Diseases of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC)Endorsed by the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS). Eur Heart J. 2015 Nov 7;36(42):2921-64. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehv318. Epub 2015 Aug 29. PMID: 26320112.
* Vakamudi M, Reddy M, Vakamudi A. Emergency management of cardiac tamponade. J Clin Anesth. 2017 Dec;43:105-117. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinane.2017.07.016. Epub 2017 Sep 15. PMID: 28807089.
* Hoit BD. Echocardiographic Diagnosis of Pericardial Effusion and Cardiac Tamponade. Echocardiography. 2017 Jun;34(6):914-919. doi: 10.1111/echo.13521. Epub 2017 May 29. PMID: 28556608.
* Imazio M, Gaita F, LeWinter M. Pericardial Tamponade: New Insights. J Am Heart Assoc. 2015 Nov 23;4(11):e002623. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.115.002623. PMID: 26601445; PMCID: PMC4845100.
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Link to full study:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.08.29.24312810v1References
Appleton C, Gillam L, Koulogiannis K. Cardiac Tamponade. Cardiol Clin. 2017 Nov;35(4):525-537. doi: 10.1016/j.ccl.2017.07.006. PMID: 29025544.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0733865117300668?via%3DihubHoit BD. Pericardial Effusion and Cardiac Tamponade in the New Millennium. Curr Cardiol Rep. 2017 Jul;19(7):57. doi: 10.1007/s11886-017-0867-5. PMID: 28493085.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11886-017-0867-5Spodick DH. Acute cardiac tamponade. N Engl J Med. 2003 Aug 14;349(7):684-90. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra022643. PMID: 12917306.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra022643Roy CL, Minor MA, Brookhart MA, Choudhry NK. Does this patient with a pericardial effusion have cardiac tamponade? JAMA. 2007 Apr 25;297(16):1810-8. doi: 10.1001/jama.297.16.1810. PMID: 17456823.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/206803