What causes fluid to surround and compress my heart?

What causes fluid to surround and compress my heart?

Several different types of injuries can cause cardiac tamponade. For example, it can happen with blunt trauma, such as a fall or a car crash, or penetrating trauma, like a stab wound from a knife.

It can also happen as a result of another injury, such as an aortic dissection. This happens when a tear forms in the wall of the aorta, a major artery in the center of your body. Blood can accumulate in between layers of the aorta’s walls and cause the artery to rupture, filling the pericardium with blood.

Cardiac tamponade is also caused by or linked to several diseases and conditions. These include:

• Advanced cancer.
• Heart attack (especially if the heart wall ruptures).
• Tuberculosis (more common in developing countries).
• Inflammation or infection of the pericardium. This includes both bacterial and viral infections, especially in patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
• Chronic immune diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and scleroderma.
• Heart cancer.
• Heart or kidney failure.
• Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid gland).

In some cases, cardiac tamponade can also happen after a medical procedure. Some of these include:

• Surgery on the heart or near the pericardium.
• Catheter-based procedures that involve the heart or surrounding blood vessels.
• Placement of a device like a pacemaker.
• Radiation therapy near the heart or pericardium.