Cardiac tamponade : a prospective study of 31 cases

Abstract EN

Objectives: To identify the causes, and the value of the clinical data and echocardiography in the diagnosis of cardiac tamponade ( CT).

Design: Prospective study of 31 cases with cardiac tamponade.

Setting: Coronary care unit, medical wards and echocardiographic department at Ibn-Sina teaching hospital, Mosul.

Subjects: Thirty one patients (19 males, 12 females) presented with (CT) ,selected according to the clinical and echocardiographic criteria .

Results: Chronic renal failure (CRF) was the main cause of CT constituting (35.5% of the cases) followed by tuberculosis and malignancy, each constituted 25.8% of the cases, systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE) constituted 6.5% and pyogenic infection and idiopathic each constituted 3.2%.

Right atrial collapse was found in 28 cases (90%) by echocardiogram.

Conclusion: This study showed that CRF was the most common cause of CT and right atrial diastolic collapse was the most sensitive indicator.