Effective January 1, 2026, CMS finalized policy changes allowing certain transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) services to be billed when performed in the Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) setting.

Both constrictive pericarditis and restrictive cardiomyopathy limit ventricular filling, but for completely different reasons. They share nearly identical symptoms and often similar Doppler findings such as dyspnea, edema, JVD, preserved EF and abnormal filling, which is why they’re so commonly mistaken for one another. But they arise from completely different mechanics, one from the outside of the heart, one from the inside.

Learn how to diagnose cardiac tamponade using echocardiographic signs, Doppler clues, and hemodynamic changes. Identify critical pressure patterns before clinical shock develops.