Cardiac tamponade is one of the most severely life-threatening emergencies encountered, mainly because of its significant impact on the pumping capacity of the heart by compressing the cardiac chambers due to the rapid accumulation of blood, fluid, pus, or clots in the pericardial sac. These accumulations may be collected following traumas, malignancies, uremia, and many other medical conditions as well as surgical procedures. Numerous errors and medicolegal aspects have been identified in diagnosing and treating cardiac tamponade associated with cardiac-related procedures such as valve replacement surgeries, cardiac pacemaker implantation, pericardiocentesis, and other non-cardiac related procedures such as peri-hiatal surgeries. Patients taking anticoagulants or anticancer medications are especially susceptible to developing cardiac tamponade when undergoing surgical procedures, raising the question of preoperative screening to avoid errors. Misdiagnosis, treatment delay or failure to deliver the utmost quality of treatment, lack of complication screening and follow-ups for those at risk, surgeons rushing to complete cases, burnout, and other human factors are predispositions to the development of cardiac tamponade. Fortunately, most of these errors occurring within healthcare settings are avoidable and must be prevented for eliminating any risks to reduce the incidence and mortality of cardiac tamponade cases resulting from iatrogenic etiology. It is an intricate condition where precision and caution are crucial.

BackgroundIt has been established that patients with COVID-19 pneumonia are more vulnerable to developing thromboembolic complications. Computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest is an essential investigation modality in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and has an important role in the diagnosis and identification of complications. MethodsA retrospective observational study was conducted on patients admitted with COVID-19 pneumonia who underwent CT scans of the chest. The data regarding demographic information, clinical information, and CT findings were collected from electronic health records. Multivariable regression analysis was used to identify the independent factors associated with thromboembolic complications. ResultsThe study included a total of 276 patients, including 178 (64.5%) men and 98 (35.5%) women. In total, 64 patients were found to have thromboembolic events, yielding a complication rate of 23.2%. Multivariable logistic regression revealed that patients aged 51-65 years (Odds ratio [OR] = 8.9; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.0-26.5) and >65 years (OR = 18.7; 95% CI: 7.6-46.1) had a higher likelihood of having thromboembolic complications compared to those aged 18-35 years. Further, the crazy-paving appearance of opacity was identified as an independent factor associated with thromboembolic events (OR = 14.2; 95% CI: 6.9-29.4). Further, patients with severe pulmonary parenchymal involvement were 30 times (OR = 30.6; 95% CI: 9.8-95.5) more likely to have thromboembolic complications compared with those having mild involvement. ConclusionsThe radiological findings on the CT scan of the chest can provide crucial prognostic information for patients with COVID-19 in terms of thromboembolic events. Clinicians need to keep a high index of suspicion for pulmonary embolism and deep venous thrombosis when they encounter patients with crazy-paving opacity appearances on CT scans, particularly among patients with severe parenchymal involvement.