Pericardial effusion is a common finding in clinical practice either as incidental finding or manifestation of a systemic or cardiac disease. The spectrum of pericardial effusions ranges from mild asymptomatic effusions to cardiac tamponade. The aetiology is varied (infectious, neoplastic, autoimmune, metabolic, and drug-related), being tuberculosis the leading cause of pericardial effusions in...

Tuberculous pericardial effusion is not common; and so the case described is of interest on account of the patient's age, the frequency with which the pericardial effusion required tapping, the relative absence of symptoms during most of the illness, and the stages through which the case passed from gross effusion to relative dryness at autopsy with only about 2 oz. of fluid in a greatly thicke...

Different pericardial catheters have been suggested as an effective alternative method for drainage of pericardial effusion. The aim of this study was to determine the performance, pain, and quality of life on use of central venous catheter (CVC) for drainage of pericardial effusion in patients undergoing open heart surgery. Fifty-five patients who had developed pericardial effusion after an op...

ferential pericardial effusion with features consistent with tamponade. Color Doppler-flow examination revealed flow within the anterior portion of the pericardial effusion directed toward the right ventricle in systole and toward the right atrium in diastole. No communication with the right atrium or right ventricle was seen [1]. The intrapericardial flow pattern could also be demonstrated by ...

OBJECTIVE To report a case of a patient treated with clozapine who developed pericarditis with pericardial effusion that resolved when the drug was discontinued. METHOD Case report of a 21-year-old man with psychotic disorder that had been stable on clozapine therapy for five months (after failure of atypical antipsyhotic agents) presented to the emergency department complaining of chest pain...

BACKGROUND The role of inflammatory and angiogenic cytokines in patients with inflammatory pericardial effusion still remains uncertain. METHODS We assessed pericardial and serum levels of VEGF, bFGF, IL-1β and TNF-α by ELISA in patients with inflammatory pericardial effusion (PE) of autoreactive (n = 22) and viral (n = 11) origin, and for control in pericardial fluid (PF) and serum (n = 26) ...

BACKGROUND Cholesterol pericarditis (CP) is a special type of pericarditis. It is characterized by chronic pericardial effusion with high cholesterol concentration and with or without the formation of crystals in pericardial effusion. METHODS In this case report, we described a 74-year-old male with massive pericardial effusion. He presented with no symptoms. However, he had 8-year history of...

In this prospective observational study we evaluated the clinical symptoms in patients who presented with early or late significant pericardial effusion after cardiac surgery and underwent its open drainage in our institution. It was a series of 35 patients where the clinical symptoms and lab investigations were recorded. There were 21 male and 14 female (3:2). Majority of patients presented wi...