Cardiovascular Emergencies: Pericardial Effusion and Cardiac Tamponade

On completion of this CE, the participant will be able to 1. Describe two cardiovascular emergencies for patients with cancer. 2. Describe medical management of the cardiovascular emergencies. 3. Discuss nurses’ role in the care of patients with cardiovascular emergencies. Cardiac tamponade is a life-threatening emergency that occurs when excessive fluid in the pericardial space, called a pericardial effusion, creates increased pressure in the pericardial sac that compromises the heart’s ability to fill and pump. Consequently, cardiac output decreases and systemic perfusion is impaired (Dietz & Flaherty, 1993; Hunter, 1998). The distinction between pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade is important. Pericardial effusion is an anatomic diagnosis of abnormal pericardial fluid accumulation that has no hemodynamic consequences, whereas cardiac tamponade is a physiologic diagnosis of varying amounts of pericardial fluid that causes increased pressure and resultant hemodynamic consequences (Harken, Hammond, & Edmunds, 1997).