Protocolo diagnóstico y terapéutico de la pericarditis aguda y el taponamiento cardíaco

Abstract

Both acute pericarditis and cardiac tamponade are encompassed within acute pericardial syndromes. Acute pericarditis is an uncommon disease in the emergency department, representing just 5% of patients who consult due to chest pain, of which only 0.1% require hospitalization. Both acute pericarditis and cardiac tamponade as well as constrictive pericarditis can be considered a single inflammatory process and therefore can be classified into three groups according to the clinical manifestations.In the first group are symptoms arising from pericardial inflammation, in which pain and fever are predominant. In the second group are symptoms arising from pericardial effusion due to pericardial inflammation that has been ongoing for some time and the production of serous fluid, whose most extreme manifestation is cardiac tamponade. In the third group are symptoms arising from chronic inflammation in the form of pericardial thickening, retraction, and calcification.