Cardiac Motion in Patients with Pericardial Effusion
Population
23 patients with proven pericardial effusion
Design
Case_series
Authors
Discussion
Loading...
Member takes
Implication
Ultrasound motion patterns in effusion support positional electrical alternans; hypothesis-generating and should not yet change practice.
Key Points
- To investigate cardiac motion in patients with pericardial effusion using diagnostic ultrasound.
- Participants included 23 patients with confirmed pericardial effusion.
- Ultrasound recordings of heart wall movement were analyzed to assess motion patterns.
- Cardiac displacement and its correlation to electrical alternation were evaluated.
- 15 patients exhibited normal heart motion patterns, while 2 had significantly reduced motion due to acute cardiac tamponade.
- In 6 patients, there was posterior displacement of the heart during systole, particularly in those with malignant effusion and clinical signs of tamponade.
- The patients with the most pronounced motion showed electrical alternation, supporting the positional theory of its occurrence.
Structured PICO
P
Population
23 patients with proven pericardial effusion
I
Intervention
Diagnostic ultrasound
O
Outcome
Movement of the anterior and posterior heart wallssurrogate
Diagnostic ultrasound can identify excessive cardiac motion and posterior displacement in patients with pericardial effusion, providing objective evidence for the positional etiology of electrical alternation.
Cite This Study
Feigenbaum et al. (1966) studied this question.