On completion of this CE, the participant will be able to 1. Describe two cardiovascular emergencies for patients with cancer. 2. Describe medical management of the cardiovascular emergencies. 3. Discuss nurses’ role in the care of patients with cardiovascular emergencies. Cardiac tamponade is a life-threatening emergency that occurs when excessive fluid in the pericardial space, called a peric...

OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence and time course of pericardial effusion after open heart surgery for congenital heart diseases and to identify predisposing risk factors. DESIGN AND PATIENTS Prospective assessment of development of pericardial effusion in 336 patients (163 males) undergoing open heart surgery for congenital heart disease by serial echocardiography on days 5, 7, 14, 21, ...

Clinically evident cardiac involvement due to malignancy is uncommonly encountered. In autopsy series, however, involvement of the heart has been observed in 5.1% of the patients with advanced cancer. Pericardium is most frequently involved. Pericardial involvement usually presents as pericardial effusion. Depending upon the rapidity of the process, pericardial effusion may remain asymptomatic ...

788 Communications to the Editor undergoing evaluation ofclinically-suspected malignant pericardial effusion. A rigid mediastinoscope was used for inspection of the posterior and lateral pericardial surfaces. A flexible bronchoscope was used in one patient to evaluate the anterior pericardial space. We have reported our results with flexible fiberoptic pericardioscopy in seven successive patien...

A ten-year experience with operations on the pericardium in 71 consecutive patients was reviewed. The patients ranged in age from nine months to 75 years old. Fifty-three patients were operated upon for pericardial effusion and 14 for pericardial constriction. Sixty-seven patients had pericarditis: 21 of them underwent subxiphoid tube drainage; ten, limited pericardiectomy; and the remaining 36...

BACKGROUND There are many well-known causes of pericardial effusion, such as cancer metastasis, bacterial or viral pericarditis, and uremic pericarditis; however, no reports exist in the literature demonstrating a pericardial effusion that led to cardiac tamponade following consumption of an herbal remedy. CASE REPORT A 32-year-old male patient was referred to our cardiology outpatient clinic...

We present the case of a young man diagnosed with a right atrial mass and a large pericardial effusion. The patient had presented in the emergency department with chest pain, shortness of breath, pedal oedema and loss of appetite. A transthoracic echocardiogram showed a bright echodensity in the right atrium with a large pericardial effusion. He was treated for presumed tubercular pericardial e...

A 50-year-old male, renal transplant recipient, was admitted with fever and chest discomfort. At admission, chest radiologic finding was negative and echocardiography showed minimal pericardial effusion. After 2 days of admission, chest pain worsened and blood pressure fell to 60/40 mmHg. Emergency echocardiography showed a large amount of pericardial effusion compressing the entire heart. Peri...