Cardiac A-lines in fast scan as a sign of pneumopericardium

BACKGROUND: Traumatic pneumopericardium is rare and usually results from blunt injury. Diagnosis through clinical and chest X-ray is often difficult. Ultrasound findings of A-line artifacts in the cardiac window may suggest pneumopericardium.

CASE PRESENTATION: A young man involved in a car accident and sustained blunt thoracic injuries, among others. As part of primary survey, FAST scan was performed. Subxiphoid view to look for evidence of pericardial effusion showed part of the cardiac image obscured by A-lines. Other cardiac windows showed only A-lines, as well. A suspicion of pneumopericardium was raised and CT scan confirmed the diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONS: Although FAST scan was originally used to look for presence of free fluid, with the knowledge of lung ultrasound for pneumothorax, our findings suggest that FAST scan can also be used to detect pneumopericardium.