Abstract
Pericardial effusion is a manifestation of acute or chronic pericarditis. Usually it will be an incidental finding, but in some cases it will appear as a cardiac tamponade, which will require emergency pericardiocentesis. In any case, pericardial effusion is a diagnostic challenge. It may occur as result of a variety of clinical conditions including: inflammatory acute pericarditis, uremic pericarditis, hypothyroidism, metastases, tuberculosis and various autoimmune diseases. Although there are many diagnostic tools available, clinical judgment is the best medical diagnostic tool: it provides an etiologic diagnosis without requiring invasive procedures in nearly two thirds of patients. In the rest of patients, diagnosis is confirmed by pericardial imaging modalities, pericardiocentesis, pericardioscopy and pericardial biopsy.
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