Low-pressure cardiac tamponade: A case report

Abstract A 57-year-old woman presented with a large idiopathic pericardial effusion with subsequent cardiac tamponade, in whom the intrapericardial pressure measured by pericardiocentesis was not elevated. The patient did not present with the classical clinical features of cardiac tamponade, requiring echocardiographic follow-up to make accurate diagnosis and treatment. This entity called low-pressure cardiac tamponade has been diagnosed anecdotally being an insidious condition that requires a high degree of suspicion. Learning objective: Low-pressure cardiac tamponade is a clinical condition whose clinical diagnosis is highly difficult due to the dramatic loss of sensitivity of the classical clinical findings (dyspnea, tachycardia, hypotension, central venous pressure, and paradoxical pulse), making the diagnosis challenging. It requires a high index of suspicion at the echocardiographic study moment, and as in the classic cardiac tamponade many cases eventually require pericardiocentesis for confirmation and treatment.>