Under pressure: Acute cardiac tamponade

C ardiac tamponade (also known as pericardial tamponade) is a clinical syndrome in which the pressure from the excess pericardial fluid, or pericardial effusion, has increased to the point that the intrapericardial pressure exceeds the pressure within the cardiac chambers, resulting in inadequate cardiac filling, decreased cardiac output, and, ultimately, cardiogenic shock and death if not rapidly identified and appropriately treated.1-3