<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Introduction:</bold> Pericardiocentesis is a procedure performed for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, and it consists in draining the pericardial effusion liquid in sterile conditions. The accumulation of fluid in the pericardial space may be caused by several systemic conditions, including viral or bacterial infections, autoimmune disease, cancer, as well as thyroid malfunction. A rapidly growing pericardial effusion can lead to cardiac tamponade, and consequently to acute hypodiastolic heart failure.<bold>Case report:</bold> We report the case of a 79-year-old female, without previously known cardiovascular pathologies, who presented to the Emergency Room due to a gradual deterioration in her health status. Imaging procedures included a chest X-ray and an echocardiography that confirmed the diagnosis of pericardial effusion. Pericardiocentesis was performed using cardiac ultrasound guidance, resulting in the draining of a small quantity of yellowish, partly haemorrhagic fluid. The patient's general condition did not improve, thus another pericardiocentesis was carried out, this time with fluoroscopical and cardiac ultrasound guidance, and 1200 milliliters of sero-haemorrhagic fluid was drained. The laboratory analysis revealed that the patient had hypothyroidism, and the cytological analysis of the drained pericardial fluid excluded a neoplastic origin, tuberculosis, and other infectious etiologies. The particularity of the case consists in a pericardial effusion evolving into cardiac tamponade, for which the pericardiocentesis was guided using echocardiographic, fluoroscopic and radiologic methods, because simple ultrasound-guided drainage was not efficient.<bold>Conclusion:</bold> The superiority of a combined imaging-guided approach in cases of pericardial effusion recommends it as an alternative to a surgical procedure, guided solely by echocardiography, which is often used in cases of unsuccessful drainage of pericar-dial effusion fluid.</abstract>

Introduction: Pericardiocentesis is a procedure performed for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, and it consists in draining the pericardial effusion liquid in sterile conditions. The accumulation of fluid in the pericardial space may be caused by several systemic conditions, including viral or bacterial infections, autoimmune disease, cancer, as well as thyroid malfunction. A rapidly growing pericardial effusion can lead to cardiac tamponade, and consequently to acute hypodiastolic heart failure.Case report: We report the case of a 79-year-old female, without previously known cardiovascular pathologies, who presented to the Emergency Room due to a gradual deterioration in her health status. Imaging procedures included a chest X-ray and an echocardiography that confirmed the diagnosis of pericardial effusion. Pericardiocentesis was performed using cardiac ultrasound guidance, resulting in the draining of a small quantity of yellowish, partly haemorrhagic fluid. The patient's general condition did not improve, thus another pericardiocentesis was carried out, this time with fluoroscopical and cardiac ultrasound guidance, and 1200 milliliters of sero-haemorrhagic fluid was drained. The laboratory analysis revealed that the patient had hypothyroidism, and the cytological analysis of the drained pericardial fluid excluded a neoplastic origin, tuberculosis, and other infectious etiologies. The particularity of the case consists in a pericardial effusion evolving into cardiac tamponade, for which the pericardiocentesis was guided using echocardiographic, fluoroscopic and radiologic methods, because simple ultrasound-guided drainage was not efficient.Conclusion: The superiority of a combined imaging-guided approach in cases of pericardial effusion recommends it as an alternative to a surgical procedure, guided solely by echocardiography, which is often used in cases of unsuccessful drainage of pericar-dial effusion fluid.

The Facilitation of Pericardiocentesis Using Imaging Techniques. A Case Report

Center for Invasive and Noninvasive Cardiovascular Research in Adult Pathology, Emergency County Hospital, Sibiu,

Journal of Cardiovascular Emergencies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"The Facilitation of Pericardiocentesis Using Imaging Techniques. A Case Report"}

Introduction: Pericardiocentesis is a procedure performed for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, and it consists in draining the pericardial effusion liquid...

The Facilitation of Pericardiocentesis Using Imaging Techniques. A Case Report

Published Online: Oct 18, 2016

Page range: 129 - 133

Received: Jun 03, 2016

Accepted: Aug 19, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jce-2016-0020

Keywords
pericardiocentesis, cardiac tamponade, myxedema

© 2016 Ioan Manițiu et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Facilitation of Pericardiocentesis Using Imaging Techniques. A Case Report

Published Online: Oct 18, 2016

Page range: 129 - 133

Received: Jun 03, 2016

Accepted: Aug 19, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jce-2016-0020

Keywordspericardiocentesis, cardiac tamponade, myxedema

© 2016 Ioan Manițiu et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
pericardiocentesis, cardiac tamponade, myxedema