Spontaneous fatal cardiac tamponade- A case series at VMMC & SJH, New Delhi

Cardiac Tamponade (CT) is a dangerous medical state which is a fatal emergency that requires rapid medical attention to reduce the high risk of death. Accumulation of the fluid inside the pericardial space lowers cardiac filling, as well as blood pressure; resulting in cardiogenic shock leading to sudden death. Sudden death can also happen due to many reasons, including Cardiac Tamponade, which happens without warning and with a wide range of clinical presentations and diagnoses made at post-mortem examination. Common highlights such as already known aortic aneurysm, old age, male sex, and beatless electrical movement also increment doubt of the Cardiac Tamponade. Previous research has linked cardiac tamponade to a variety of other clinical disorders, including cancer, open-heart surgery, central venous catheterization, myocardial abscess, dissecting aortic aneurysm, infective endocarditic, etc. However, death caused by Cardiac Tamponade remains unknown and suspected until a postmortem examination is conducted. In this study, a series of eight cases of Cardiac Tamponade have been included, whose death was sudden and unexpected and examined in the mortuary of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College (VMMC) & Safdarjung hospital, New Delhi and conclude the cause of death as Cardiac Tamponade. In the present study, the authors also reported sudden and unexpected death in healthy males and females caused by Cardiac Tamponade and focused the study towards autopsy examination, and post mortem findings.