Why is cardiac tamponade lethal

Other diagnostic tests may include:. Cardiac tamponade is a medical emergency that requires hospitalization. The treatment of cardiac tamponade has two purposes. It should relieve pressure on your heart and then treat the underlying condition. Your doctor will drain the fluid from your pericardial sac, typically with a needle. This procedure is called pericardiocentesis. Your doctor may perform a more invasive procedure called a thoracotomy to drain blood or remove blood clots if you have a penetrating wound.

They may remove part of your pericardium to help relieve pressure on your heart. Once the tamponade is under control and your condition stabilizes, your doctor may perform additional tests to determine the underlying cause of your condition. The long-term outlook depends on how quickly the diagnosis can be made, the underlying cause of the tamponade, and any subsequent complications.

Your outlook is fairly good if the cardiac tamponade is quickly diagnosed and treated. Your long-term outlook greatly depends on how quickly you get treatment. Seek medical treatment immediately if you think you have this condition. Pericardiocentesis or a pericardial tap is a test used to diagnose problems with your pericardium, the double-layered membrane that surrounds your…. Bacterial pericarditis is an infection of the pericardium, which is a thin membrane that protects your heart. Read more about how to treat this….

Constrictive pericarditis is chronic inflammation of the pericardium, which is a sac-like membrane that surrounds the heart. Swan-Ganz catheterization helps determine whether you have certain heart and lung abnormalities. Get the facts and learn about controversies…. Blue lips are most often caused when something is preventing you from getting enough oxygen into your body. Read on to discover some of the causes of…. This blockage causes unstable angina or heart attack myocardial infarction , depending on the location and amount Chest injuries can also cause cardiac tamponade.

The most common such injuries are stab wounds. Blunt injuries Blunt Injury to the Heart Blunt injury to the heart is a blow to the chest that bruises the heart muscle, tears ruptures the heart's walls, or damages a heart valve. People may feel that their heart is pounding or People with cardiac tamponade may feel light-headed or short of breath.

They may faint. They may have low blood pressure and a rapid heart rate. The skin may be cool, sweaty, and bluish. The veins in the neck may appear swollen or distended. Prompt diagnosis and treatment are essential because cardiac tamponade can be rapidly fatal. The diagnosis is based on symptoms, examination results, and usually echocardiography Echocardiography and Other Ultrasound Procedures Ultrasonography uses high-frequency ultrasound waves bounced off internal structures to produce a moving image.

It uses no x-rays. Ultrasonography of the heart echocardiography is one of Echocardiography which uses ultrasound waves to produce an image of the heart is usually done to confirm the diagnosis. Cardiac tamponade is a medical emergency. Doctors treat it immediately by using a needle to remove the blood or fluid from around the heart pericardiocentesis.

This procedure relieves pressure on the heart and enables it to beat normally. Life-threatening cardiac tamponade: a rare complication of acupuncture. J Cardiothorac Surg 9, 61 Download citation. Received : 12 August Accepted : 11 March Published : 31 March Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:.

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative. Skip to main content. Search all BMC articles Search. Download PDF. Abstract Acupuncture as an ancient Chinese treatment has proven effective and is utilized worldwide. Background Acupuncture is an ancient form of Chinese medicine involving the insertion of solid filiform acupuncture needles into the skin at specific points on the body to achieve a therapeutic effect.

Case presentation A year-old korean woman was brought to the emergency department due to hypotension and drowsiness. Figure 1. Full size image. Figure 2. Discussion This case highlights that acupuncture, which entails inserting and manipulating fine needles into specific bodily points with the aim of relieving pain and for therapeutic purposes, can cause a catastrophic conditions, including life-threatening cardiac tamponade caused by direct penetration of an acupuncture needle into the right ventricle.

Conclusion The diagnosis of cardiac tamponade induced by an acupuncture needle should be considered when unexplained shock after an acupuncture procedure at the chest wall is found.

Consent Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report and any accompanying images. References 1. Article PubMed Google Scholar 4. Acknowledgment We greatly acknowledge all surgeons and physicians in Department of Cardiothoracic surgery and Cardiology, for their helpful discussions on this case.

View author publications. Additional information Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. About this article Cite this article Chun, KJ.