Why the study?
Does point-of-care cardiac ultrasound assessing flow velocity paradoxus improve the diagnosis of impending cardiac tamponade in clinically stable patients?
Does point-of-care cardiac ultrasound assessing flow velocity paradoxus improve the diagnosis of impending cardiac tamponade in clinically stable patients?
Point-of-care ultrasound using the flow velocity paradoxus provides a direct physiologic measure to expedite the diagnosis and management of cardiac tamponade.
May aid early tamponade detection on point-of-care ultrasound; leaves open need for prospective validation before practice change.
The presentation of cardiac tamponade is a spectrum from occult to extreme. The clinical history, physical exam, electrocardiogram, and radiographic findings of tamponade have poor sensitivities and even worse specificities. We use a clinical scenario to demonstrate how point-of-care cardiac ultrasound can diagnose impending cardiac tamponade in a clinically stable patient. The ultrasound finding we recommend is the flow velocity paradoxus, in which respiratory variation causes significant changes in transvalvular inflow velocities, which are exaggerated when tamponade is present. The management of a pericardial effusion depends on its physiologic effect, and point-of-care ultrasound directly measures that effect and expedites patient care.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Shyy et al. (2017) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: