Chylopericardium is one of the rarest complications of cardiac surgery. It is related to direct or indirect injury to the thoracic duct or its tributaries and can result in serious morbidity or even death. A 77-year-old Japanese woman who had severe aortic stenosis underwent routine aortic valve replacement. At 15 days after surgery, she developed cardiac tamponade, which was caused by chyloper...

We tested the hypothesis that coronary artery blood flow is sufficient to meet myocardial requirements throughout cardiac tamponade in a conscious euvolemic canine model recovered from surgery. Seven mongrel dogs were chronically instrumented to measure ascending aortic blood flow (electromagnetic flowmeter); intrapericardial, right atrial, and aortic blood pressures; regional myocardial blood ...