Cardiac Tamponade

Cardiac tamponade is a medical emergency in which fluid builds up in the sac around the heart (the pericardium) and presses on the heart so it can't fill and pump normally. Blood pressure falls, and without quick treatment it can be fatal. The fluid is usually drained with a needle or a small procedure to relieve the pressure. It's a condition to recognize fast, because minutes matter.

Origin

From the Greek kardia, meaning "heart," and the French tamponnade, from tampon ("plug" or "stopper"), describing how accumulating fluid effectively plugs the heart's ability to expand. The term came into common cardiology use in the early twentieth century.

Significance in Asbestos Context

Pericardial mesothelioma, the rarest form of asbestos-caused cancer, grows in the lining around the heart and can produce a pericardial effusion that leads to tamponade. Tamponade can also arise when pleural mesothelioma or metastatic disease involves the pericardium. Because the early signs, breathlessness, fatigue, and lightheadedness, overlap with more common heart and lung problems, tamponade in an asbestos patient can be missed until it becomes critical. If you have an asbestos history and develop sudden shortness of breath, a racing heart, or fainting, treat it as urgent; an echocardiogram is the fastest way to confirm fluid around the heart.

Example Sentence

When his blood pressure crashed in the emergency room, the echocardiogram showed cardiac tamponade from a pericardial effusion, which later proved to be a rare pericardial mesothelioma.

Related Terms

Pericardial Mesothelioma, Pericardial Effusion, Pericardiocentesis, Pleural Effusion, Dyspnea

Notes

• Treat sudden breathlessness, fainting, or a rapid weak pulse in someone with an asbestos history as an emergency; ask for an echocardiogram right away.
• Ask that any fluid drained during pericardiocentesis be sent for cytology and, if mesothelioma is suspected, for mesothelin and immunohistochemical testing.
• Preserve the echocardiogram report, drainage records, and pathology on the pericardial fluid; these documents help tie the condition to asbestos exposure.