title: Progression of low-pressure to acute classic cardiac tamponade-a diagnostic dilemma in the setting of spontaneous left ventricular rupture.
abstract: Cardiac tamponade (CT) is a pathophysiologic continuum where hemodynamic embarrassment occurs as a result of progressive, decreased venous return that impairs diastolic ventricular filling, which in turn, when uncorrected, severely compromises cardiac output. While CT is classically associated with high intrapericardial pressures due to rapidly accumulating large pericardial effusions, low-pressure CT is a recognized entity in which a comparatively low intrapericardial pressure could result in cardiac chamber compression and subsequent cardiovascular collapse. In this article, we highlight a previously unreported scenario of rapidly re-accumulating, acute CT in the setting of left ventricular rupture in a patient who had presumably presented with low-pressure CT due to hemoperiardium.
authors.affiliation: Division Cardiology, Department of Cardiac Sciences, St Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: Vignendra
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ariyarajah
authors.forename: Farrukh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McGregor
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raabe
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Menkis
authors.forename: Davinder S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Jassal
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002302:Cardiac Output; D002305:Cardiac Tamponade / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D018450:Disease Progression; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006341:Heart Rupture / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013575:Syncope; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed