Cardiac tamponade

Topic: Medical-surgical

Compression of the heart by fluid, blood or clot in the pericardial sac, so the ventricles cannot fill and cardiac output falls sharply. It can follow chest trauma, cardiac surgery, pericarditis, cancer or kidney failure. Classic signs are Beck's triad (hypotension, jugular venous distension, muffled heart sounds), tachycardia and pulsus paradoxus, a fall in systolic pressure of more than 10 mmHg on inspiration. It is an emergency: report it at once, monitor vital signs closely, and prepare the client for emergency pericardiocentesis or surgical drainage.

Also known as:

Pericardial tamponade

In Turkish:

Kalp tamponadı