BACKGROUND: Echocardiography is pivotal in the diagnosis of pericardial effusion and tamponade physiology. Ultrasound guidance for pericardiocentesis is currently considered the standard of care. Several approaches have been described recently, which differ mainly on the site of puncture (subxiphoid, apical, or parasternal). Although they share the use of low-frequency probes, there is absence of complete control of needle trajectory and real-time needle visualization. An in-plane and real-time technique has only been described anecdotally.
METHODS AND RESULTS: A retrospective analysis of 11 patients (63% men, mean age: 37.7±21.2 years) presenting with cardiac tamponade admitted to the tertiary-care emergency department and treated with parasternal medial-to-lateral in-plane pericardiocentesis was carried out. The underlying causes of cardiac tamponade were different among the population. All the pericardiocentesis were successfully performed in the emergency department, without complications, relieving the hemodynamic instability. The mean time taken to perform the eight-step procedure was 309±76.4 s, with no procedure-related complications.
CONCLUSION: The parasternal medial-to-lateral in-plane pericardiocentesis is a new technique theoretically free of complications and it enables real-time monitoring of needle trajectory. For the first time, a pericardiocentesis approach with a medial-to-lateral needle trajectory and real-time, in-plane, needle visualization was performed in a tamponade patient population.
METHODS: We retrospectively analysed case records of patients who underwent pericardiocentesis for cardiac tamponade during the two consecutive years (1 January 2018 to 31 December 2019) at Hospital Sultanah Nora Ismail, Batu Pahat, in Johor, Malaysia.
RESULTS: There were ten patients (eight males, two females; age range 20 to 70 years old, mean age 36 years old) who underwent pericardiocentesis for cardiac tamponade during the said period. Malignancy (40%), tuberculosis (30%), idiopathic (20%), and bacterial (10%) were among the common causes of the pericardial effusion in this center. The commonest symptoms were breathlessness (90%), chest pain (60%), cough (50%), and unexplained fever (20%). Pulsus paradoxus was the most speciÿ c sign (100%) for the presence of echocardiographic feature of cardiac tamponade. Two of the patients with tuberculous pericarditis had retroviral disease; one patient had bacterial pericarditis due to salmonella typhi.
CONCLUSION: This study has conÿ rmed that there are many etiologies and presentation of cardiac tamponade; clinicians should be alert as urgent pericardiocentesis is lifesaving.