Pericardial effusion is best diagnosed by: September 2009

Ans. B: Echocardiography Echocardiography is the imaging modality of choice for the diagnosis of pericardial effusion. Most impoantly, the contribution of pericardial effusion to overall cardiac enlargement and the relative roles of tamponade and myocardial dysfunction to altered hemodynamics can be evaluated with echocardiography. Pericardial effusion appears as an "echo-free" space between the visceral and parietal pericardium. Early effusions tend to accumulate posteriorly owing to expandable posterior/lateral pericardium. Large effusions are characterized by excessive motion within the pericardial sac. Severe cases may be accompanied by diastolic collapse of the right atrium and right ventricle (and in hypovolemic patients the left atrium and left ventricle), signaling the onset of pericardial tamponade