BACKGROUND The efficacy and safety of rigid pericardial endoscopy as the promising minimally invasive approach to the pericardial space was evaluated. Techniques for cell transplantation, epicardial pacemaker lead implantation, and epicardial ablation were developed. METHODS Two swine and 5 canines were studied to evaluate the safety and efficacy of rigid pericardial endoscopy. After a double...

The role of buffering of the high pericardial fluid [HCO3~] of the turtle, Chrysemys picta bellii Gray, was evaluated during prolonged anoxia at 3 and 10°C. At 3°C, pericardial fluid samples were collected from groups of animals after 0, 1, 2, 4 and 8 weeks of anoxia, and the ionic composition of these samples was compared to plasma values from the same animals. At 10 °C, pericardial and plasma...

Pericardiocentesis with catheter insertion for pericardial drainage is a common procedure used for the treatment of pericardial effusions and of cardiac tamponade as well. The most commonly described complications of an indwelling pericardial catheter system are catheter blockage and infection. We present a rare case of a 63 years old patient with a pericardial catheter for pericardial effusion...

Recently proposed concepts of pericardial surface pressure, as opposed to liquid pressure, have advanced our understanding of the relationship between pericardial and heart chamber pressures. However, the subsequent suggestion that right heart intracavitary pressure equals, or nearly equals, pericardial surface pressure is not strictly consistent with the physiology of pericardial constraint. I...

A ten-year experience with operations on the pericardium in 71 consecutive patients was reviewed. The patients ranged in age from nine months to 75 years old. Fifty-three patients were operated upon for pericardial effusion and 14 for pericardial constriction. Sixty-seven patients had pericarditis: 21 of them underwent subxiphoid tube drainage; ten, limited pericardiectomy; and the remaining 36...

C ardiac hemangiomas are rare vascular tumors that account for 2% to 5% of benign cardiac masses. They are constituted by endothelial cells lining vascular channels, and they can be histologically classified into capillary, cavernous, or arteriovenous hemangiomas. They may affect the endocar-1 The natural history of pericardial hemangiomas is difficult to predict, and its course may be complica...

To elucidate the mechanism responsible for the occurrence of negative transmural atrial pressures in pericardial tamponade, saline or air was progressively injected into the pericardial sac. In 14 anesthetized, open-chest dogs, left atrial (LA), left ventricular (LV), and pericardial pressures (PP) were measured with catheter tip manometers. In beating and fibrillated hearts, measurements were ...

BACKGROUND Thoracic injuries are the third most common injuries in trauma patients with cardiac injuries amongst the most lethal. Imaging is essential in diagnosis and triage of patients with pericardial injuries, and this review aims to highlight the spectrum of imaging findings of pericardial trauma. Focussed assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) is the preferred initial examination, b...

movement of the septum transversum after cyst formation. On the other hand, Maier6 regarded pericardial cysts as a congenital structure, but felt that diverticulae resulted from gradual stretching of a herniated portion of pericardium through a weakened fibrous layer in many cases. He suggested that congenital factors may play a predisposing role by providing a weak area of pericardium, but per...

Previously, we have shown that pericardial constraint cannot be measured by true (hydrostatic) pressure except when an excess of pericardial fluid is present and that a device such as a balloon (which reflects radial contact stress as well as hydrostatic pressure) must be used. Since radial contact stress is the major component of the constraint exerted by the pericardium when little pericardia...