Difference between cardiac tamponade and pericardial effusion?
Pericardial effusion is fluid accumulation in pericardial cavity and due to this pressure occur on the heart by which heart function is disturbed and it's know as cardiac tamponade.
Pericardial tamponade is an emergency where blood or a foreign body accumulates in the pericardial space and makes sudden changes to the heart's output, with Beck's triad: hypotension, distension of jugular veins and diminished heart sounds. Whereas pericardial effusion can happen chronically and the patient can feel always healthy, and does not necessarily require a medical intervention unless the fluid accumulating in the pericardial space increases to a certain limits where pericardiocentesis is required. Pericardial effusion can influence cardiac output at a delayed untreated stage where fluids keep accumulating in the pericardial space.
