Clinical cardiology
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Clinical cardiology · Apr 1987
Pericardial effusion: diagnostic value of the subcostal acoustic window (inferior vena cava-right atrial projection).
To validate the usefulness of the subcostal acoustic window (inferior vena cava-right atrial projection) for the echocardiographic diagnosis of pericardial effusion we studied 40 patients with pericardial effusion detected through the parasternal approach. A group of 100 patients without evidence of effusion constitutes the control group. ⋯ Therefore, moderate and severe pericardial effusions can be detected in most cases (95.4%) below the right atrial wall through the subcostal inferior vena cava-right atrial projection. The echocardiographic criteria for its diagnosis is the lack of contact through the cardiac cycle between right atrial wall and the diaphragm.