Pericardial effusion
pericardium disease that is characterized by an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the pericardial cavity
A pericardial effusion is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the pericardial cavity. The pericardium is a two-part membrane surrounding the heart: the outer fibrous connective membrane and an inner two-layered serous membrane. The two layers of the serous membrane enclose the pericardial cavity (the potential space) between them. This pericardial space contains a small amount of pericardial fluid, normally 15-50 mL in volume. The pericardium, specifically the pericardial fluid provides lubrication, maintains the anatomic position of the heart in the chest (levocardia), and also serves as a barrier to protect the heart from infection and inflammation in adjacent tissues and organs.
By definition, a pericardial effusion occurs when the volume of fluid in the cavity exceeds the normal limit. If large enough, it can compress the heart, causing cardiac tamponade and obstructive shock. Some of the presenting symptoms are shortness of breath, chest pressure/pain, and malaise. Important etiologies of pericardial effusions are inflammatory and infectious (pericarditis), neoplastic, traumatic, and metabolic causes. Echocardiogram, CT and MRI are the most common methods of diagnosis, although chest X-ray and EKG are also often performed.
The public source identifies “Pericardial effusion” as pericardium disease that is characterized by an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the pericardial cavity. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Pericardial, effusion and pericardium.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1306218. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pericardial effusion” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.