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Health Dictionary

Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.

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Pericardial effusion physical examination

Introduction

Overview

Overview

The vital signs of a patient with small pericardial effusion are often normal. Fever suggests an underlying infectious or inflammatory cause, and the presence of a purulent effusion must be ruled out. The common signs include tachycardia, pulsus paradoxus, hypotension in cardiac tamponade, jugular venous distension, prominent Y descent, Kussmaul’s sign, pleural dullness, decreased breath sounds, distant heart sounds, hepatomegaly, ascites in chronic cases, and ankle edema in chronic cases

Physical examination

Physical examination

The physical examination of patients with pericardial effusion may show the following [1][2][3]:

Appearance of the patient

  • Patients with mild cardiac effusions usually appear normal.
  • However, patients with large pericardial effusions usually appear distressed and uncomfortable.

Vital signs

Skin

  • Skin examination of patients with pericardial effusion is usually normal.

HEENT

  • HEENT examination of patients with pericardial effusion is usually normal.

Neck

Lungs

  • Pleural dullness
  • Decreased breath sounds

Heart

Abdomen

Back

  • Back examination of patients with pericardial effusion is usually normal.

Genitourinary

  • Genitourinary examination of patients with pericardial effusion is usually normal.

Neuromuscular

  • Neuromuscular examination of patients with pericardial effusion is usually normal.

Extremities

References

References

  1. ↑ Vakamudi S, Ho N, Cremer PC (2017). “Pericardial Effusions: Causes, Diagnosis, and Management”. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 59 (4): 380–388. doi:10.1016/j.pcad.2016.12.009. PMID 28062268.
  2. ↑ Levy PY, Habib G, Collart F, Lepidi H, Raoult D (2006). “Etiological diagnosis of pericardial effusion”. Future Microbiol. 1 (2): 229–39. doi:10.2217/17460913.1.2.229. PMID 17661668.
  3. ↑ Frydman GH, Earl A (2015). “What is your diagnosis? Cardiovascular distress secondary to pericardial effusion”. J Avian Med Surg. 29 (1): 75–8. doi:10.1647/1082-6742-29.1.75. PMID 25867671.

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Abdelrahman Ibrahim Abushouk, MD[2], Varun Kumar, M.B.B.S.