Results Subxiphoid pericardial drainage was performed under local anesthesia. Pericardial fluid of 1000 ml was drained. A pericardial drainage tube was inserted at surgery and removed after 5 days. A 2 x 3 cm2 biopsy specimen was taken under direct vision from the lower aspect of anterior pericardium. Sample of the drained fluid was collected for microbiological culture and cytological analysis...

This article describes some negative effects from modernization and urban growth in South America, including disease, pesticides, occupational hazards, poor environmental controls of water and garbage, sanitation, and environmental degradation. South America is following the global trend toward urbanization and the problems that accompany it. Agricultural expansion led to an expanded market f...

Malignant pericardial mesothelioma is a rare and progressive cardiac tumor. There is no established standard treatment and the prognosis is poor. Most patients were retrospectively diagnosed from surgery or autopsy due to absence of specific clinical manifestation. Most patients with pericardial mesothelioma have demonstrated constrictive physiology on echocardiography or cardiac catheterizatio...

Many viruses have been identified in pericardial fluid and in tissue samples from humans with pericarditis by means of molecular diagnostics. In canine idiopathic pericardial effusion there is as yet no conclusive evidence to support the involvement of an infectious agent. This study was designed to investigate a possible relationship between idiopathic pericardial effusion in dogs and viruses ...

An elderly patient with chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia developed severe bone pains and acute gonarthritis. Intravenously administered cytosine arabinoside brought dramatic relief of the bone pains and led to a rapid subsidence of the arthritis, without achieving haematological remission.

OBJECTIVE We describe 2 newborn infants with persistent pericardial effusion treated with thoracoscopic pericardial window and thoracic duct ligation. METHODS Patient 1 was a premature female newborn who presented with severe cardiac anomalies, including dextrocardia. She was treated with pulmonary artery handing and pacemaker placement for complete cardiac block. Postoperatively, she develop...

In order to evaluate the reliability and sensitivity of echocardiograms for detecting and quantitating pericardial effusion, 41 patients had echocardiograms on the day prior to cardiac operation. A fluid trap was used to aspirate the pericardium at operation. Thirty-nine of 41 patients had echocardiograms of diagnostic quality. In 25 patients, the echocardiogram was negative for pericardial eff...

Lin AN, et al. BMJ Case Rep 2017. doi:10.1136/bcr-2017-220097 Description A 73-year-old woman with hypertension and atrial fibrillation presented with head and neck injury after mechanical fall. During workup, chest X-ray anteroposterior view (figure 1) revealed a rounded opacity silhouetting the left heart border and hilum. Subsequent contrast-enhanced CT of the chest showed single, 6.4 cm, ro...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of computed tomography (CT) attenuation values in the characterization of pericardial effusion. METHODS This study consisted of 96 patients with pericardial effusion who underwent pericardiocentesis. For further diagnostic evaluation of pericardial effusion, all the patients were assessed by thorax CT. CT attenuation values wer...