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Extrinsic compression of the heart by tumor masquerading as cardiac tamponade
Catheterization and Cardiovascular Diagnosis
|January 1, 1978
Insights
A large intrathoracic tumor mimicked cardiac tamponade by displacing the heart. Cardiac catheterization revealed mechanical compression, not pericardial effusion, as the cause of hemodynamic changes.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Thoracic Oncology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Cardiac tamponade is a life-threatening condition caused by fluid accumulation in the pericardium.
- Intrathoracic tumors can present with diverse and sometimes unusual clinical manifestations.
Abstract:
A patient with known intrathoracic tumor presented with findings suggestive of cardiac tamponade. At cardiac catheterization, the entire heart was displaced superiorly and anteriorly by the tumor mass, and this accounted for the observed cardiac hemodynamics, in the absence of discernible pericardial effusion.