fluid around heart

a friend said the doctor took 9 pounds of fluid from around her heart. Could this be accurate? From everything I have read the amounts are listed in cc's

[ireneo]

That sounds a bit off. Doing the math, on an average, 1 gram of fluid is equal to 1 cc/ml. There are 454 g to a pound. That would mean 9 lbs equal 4,086 g or 4,086 ccs. If the heart had even a fraction of that much fluid around the heart, the heart would have stopped beating from the pressure. Was the fluid in the chest cavity or actually around the heart itself?

[ireneo]

Another conversion:  4,086 cc's equal about 17.5 cups.

[lin1028]

Thanks for the information.  I don't know if the fluid was in the chest cavity or around the heart itself.

I really appreciate the quick come back, since I just joined and this was my first question.

Lin1028

[ireneo]

You're quite welcome. The heart muscle itself is in a sac like structure. So you can see if there was 17 cups of fluid in that little sac around the heart, the heart would be so squished, it wouldn't beat. Perhaps the fluid was in the chest cavity and that would have been miserable, pressure on the lungs and everything. Then they need to figure out what's causing the fluid buildup.

If you have more questions about what your friend is going through, just drop in and let us know. We're not doctors but we can share our own experiences.

[fran2645]

I know some time has past but I wanted to share this with you.  My son is 33.  At  27 a virus attacked his heart and is heart functions dropped to 10-15%...not good. I believe a doctor's error caused his kidneys to stop working in the fall of 2008.  Wrong medication....another issue...another time.  Today my son had surgery for fluid around his heart and they took off 1.5 liters so far.  They did a procedure called a "window" in the membrane surrounding his heart.  My biggest fustration is that he has been complaining of this for the last few months and NO ONE found it until a PA in the emergency room listened and told him he had a heart mumur...the ER doc did an utltrsound and diagnosed it.  They STILL are telling me that no fever should be present....all the classic symptoms are on line...including a fever. Some times they just don't take the time to listen....