Measuring A Pericardial Effusion
A pericardial effusion—abnormal fluid accumulation in the pericardial cavity—is evident on several imaging sequences: short-axis and 4-chamber, gated, balanced steady state free precession (F1 & F2, respectively) series, as well as on short-axis, incoherent (spoiled) gradient echo images that are acquired using a gadolinium-contrast agent (F3). The effusion is measured and characterized at the location where fluid accumulation is the greatest (F1).
