For whatever the reason doing anything with the heart sends my own heart rate up. First it was measurements, then doppler work, and that darn aortic outflow in cats! Haha! I was presented with a pericardial effusion echo case today that sent me into anxiety-ville. I am posting the videos here, and as far as stick this amount of effusion it’s probably easy but that first attempt is nerve-racking at best. I mean the heart is literally floating in a pool of effision. The last thing I would want to do is go anywhere near the heart with a pointy shaped object, say a needle?

For whatever the reason doing anything with the heart sends my own heart rate up. First it was measurements, then doppler work, and that darn aortic outflow in cats! Haha! I was presented with a pericardial effusion echo case today that sent me into anxiety-ville. I am posting the videos here, and as far as stick this amount of effusion it’s probably easy but that first attempt is nerve-racking at best. I mean the heart is literally floating in a pool of effision. The last thing I would want to do is go anywhere near the heart with a pointy shaped object, say a needle?

How nervous should one be? I assume the worst case scenario is you end of stabbing the heart and it literally implodes as a nightmarish image on your ultrasound machine of which I would never recover from such an experience, or you possibly nick the heart and virtually nothing happens?

Thx ahead of time for your answers/comments! -chicken little Echotech 🙂