Acute cardiac tamponade secondary to ruptured pericardial cyst: Case report and literature review

Pericardial cysts are a rare disorder with an incidence of about 1 in 100,000, the majority of which are benign and incidentally identified. Pericardial cyst causing cardiac tamponade is an extremely rare phenomenon. The exact incidence of cardiac tamponade secondary to pericardial cyst is unknown. To the best of our knowledge limited case reports showing this association have been published. We have summarized cases showing this association in a tabular fashion. We present a case of a 36-year-old male who presented with symptoms of shortness of breath, chest pain, and fevers found to have ruptured pericardial cyst causing cardiac tamponade. <Learning objective: The majority of pericardial cysts are diagnosed incidentally and have benign course. Pericardial cyst causing cardiac tamponade is an extremely rare phenomenon. Ruptured pericardial cysts should be considered in the differential diagnosis of cardiac tamponade in patients with history of pericardial cyst. Interventions such as immediate pericardiocentesis, sternotomy, and surgical resection of cyst can be life-saving.>.