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Echocardiography confirms tamponade diagnosis in emergencies; leaves open whether point-of-care ultrasound can supplant it in guidelines.
Cardiac tamponade occurs when fluid accumulates in the pericardial sac and intrapericardial pressure increases, becoming greater than the normal cardiac diastolic pressure. The condition can be suspected on the basis of clinical signs and physical examination; laboratory examinations, electrocardiogram and chest X-ray can suggest the diagnosis and help identify causes and complications, but definitive and essential for the diagnosis is the echocardiographic exam. Cardiac tamponade is an emergency: the patient’s life depends on the rapid and accurate diagnosis and on the timely completion of pericardiocentesis, this work being the only effective treatment in case of cardiac tamponade.
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Alice Rădulescu (2018) studied this question.
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