Not an hors d'œuvre made of hearts!

What in the world is a Cardiac Tamponade? Funny sounding name for something that can be very deadly if left untreated.  Let's break it down.  Obviously it has to do with the heart (hence cardiac).  What is a tamponade though? Generally a tamponade is the blockage or plugging of a hole that is bleeding.  So a cardiac tamponade is the blockage of blood coming out of the heart? Well, its  not quite that simple and that definition leaves something to be desired.  In the end, if left untreated, blood will not be able to get out of the heart, but not for the reasons we might think.  

Simply, a cardiac tamponade is when fluid (can be blood or pus, clots, or even a gas) collects in the pericardium, which is the sac that surrounds the heart. As the fluid builds up it puts pressure on the heart and the heart is unable to pump blood efficiently, ending up with no blood being able to pump out of the heart. 

Okay, so we know what this disease is, but why do we care, when do we see this disease.  Well, cardiac tamponade can occur from penetrating chest wounds (the gory trauma we expect in EDs).  It can also occur from blunt chest trauma, maybe getting hit in the chest with a baseball, or being in a car accident.  There are other causes of cardiac tamponade, but they are less exciting and I will cover those later.   

That's all for now, but here is a picture of what a cardiac tamponade looks like:

(https://thernhangout.wordpress.com/category/cardiac-2/)