T uberculous pericarditis continues to have a high incidence in developing countries. Despite effective antimicrobial treatment and improved public health in developed countries, there has been a recent surge in the incidence of both atypical and classical tuberculosis in immunocompromised patients, especially those infected with HIV. Only a few studies have been published describing the echoca...

Pericardial effusion is commonly seen in patients with hypothyroidism, but a massive pericardial effusion with obvious diastolic right ventricular compression is uncommon. We herein report a case of 73-year-old woman seen in the ED with generalized weakness and hypotension. Echocardiography revealed a massive pericardial effusion with diastolic right ventricular compression, and thyroid functio...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae primarily causes respiratory tract infections. Extrapulmonary manifestations are seen in 20-25% of cases. Cardiac involvement is rarely reported. We present a unique case of a pericardial mass and cardiac tamponade associated with a Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia. This required emergency pericardial fenestration. The patient improved dramatically postoperatively on antibi...

Surgical management of symptomatic benign and malignant effusive pericarditis is often required. Twenty-two patients with medically recalcitrant effusive, nonconstrictive pericarditis underwent pericardial resection by a video-assisted thoracoscopic surgical (VATS) technique (9 malignant, 13 benign). Pericardiectomy, resulting in complete drainage of the pericardial space and control of patient...

Pericardial cysts are rare benign lesions of the thoracic cavity and are mostly congenital anomalies. They are induced by an incomplete coalescence of foetal lacunae during the development of the pericardium. Pericardial cysts are usually unilocular, well marginated spherical or teardrop shaped and may be attached to the pericardium directly or by a pedicle. Of all pericardial cysts, 70 to 75% ...

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disorder that affects primarily Jews, Armenians, Turks, and Arabs. It is characterised by recurrent, self limited attacks of fever accompanied by inflammation of the peritoneal, synovial, and pleural surfaces. Pericardial involvement is a well known (0.7–1.4%) but rare feature of the disease. 3 Our initial observation of two patients ...