Purulent pericarditis with cardiac tamponade caused by community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is rare and fatal. There are limited data in children in the current antibiotic era, and available reports usually involve patients with immune dysfunction and prior thoracic instrumentation or has a thoracic focus of infection. Rapid recognition and treatment are paramount in the survival of patients. We report a case of purulent pericarditis with cardiac tamponade secondary to community-acquired MRSA in a previously healthy 10-month-old male infant who presented with fever, pallor, shock, and cardio-respiratory distress. CBC showed leukocytosis with neutrophilia, markedly elevated inflammatory markers, and cardiomegaly on chest radiography. The ECG showed diffuse concave ST-segment elevation, low QRS voltages on precordial leads, and electrical alternans consistent with pericarditis with probable significant pericardial effusion confirmed by 2D echocardiography with note of cardiac tamponade. He was managed effectively with pericardiostomy in combination with a 4-week course of vancomycin. Blood and pericardial fluid culture grew MRSA. This case underscores the organism’s lethality and its potential to infect immunocompetent children without predisposing factors. The value of early recognition, prompt initiation of treatment and management is of utmost importance.
Pericardial Window Techniques

No abstract available.
Humans ; Pericardial Effusion* ; Pericardial Window Techniques* ; Renal Dialysis*

Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome is characterized by unexplained blood eosinophilia > 1500/mm3 for more than 6 months and eosinophilic infiltration of several organs. A major source of the morbidity and mortality of this syndrome is the associated cardiac involvement. The typical cardiac involvement includes endocardial fibrosis and mural thrombus. We report a case of idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome manifested as multiple regional wall motion abnormalities and moderate pericardial effusion on transthoracic echocardiography that was successfully treated by pericardiostomy and steroid therapy.
Echocardiography ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils ; Fibrosis ; Hypereosinophilic Syndrome ; Pericardial Effusion ; Pericardial Window Techniques ; Thrombosis

A 49-year-old man visited our hospital via the emergency room. He had suffered chest trauma by falling down. His chest X-Ray showed pneumomediastinum with pneumopericardium. We checked the Chest CT, and it showed pneumopericardium without any injury to the other organs, the compressed heart and a minimal pneumothorax on the left hemithorax. Closed thoracostomy was then done under local anesthesia. We then performed open pericardiostomy under general anesthesia. We got a good result and so we report on this case.
Anesthesia, General ; Anesthesia, Local ; Emergencies ; Heart ; Humans ; Mediastinal Emphysema ; Middle Aged ; Pericardial Window Techniques ; Pericardium ; Pneumopericardium ; Pneumothorax ; Thoracostomy ; Thorax

Effusive-constrictive pericarditis is a very rare disease in infants but has high motality rates when not treated. There were some reports of pericardial constriction associated with intrapericardial abscess that led to pericardiectomy. The patient was admitted due to fever, cyanosis, and abdominal distension. We treated the patient with antibiotics and pericardiostomy but the symtoms did not improved, therefore, pericardiectomy was perfomed immediately. The patient with effusive-constrictive pericarditis was immediately relief on the symptoms and the treatment was successful.
Abscess ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Constriction ; Cyanosis ; Fever ; Humans ; Infant* ; Pericardial Window Techniques ; Pericardiectomy* ; Pericarditis* ; Pericarditis, Constrictive ; Pericardium ; Rare Diseases

A rare case of mesothelial/monocytic incidental cardiac excrescences (cardiac MICE) is described in the aspect of pathological interest. This cardiac lesion is pathologically characterized by exuberant proliferation of mixed mesothelia and monocytes and might be misdiagnosed as metastatic carcinoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and histiocytoid hemangioma, if the disease is not in the minds of pathologists. The reactive nodular hyperplasia due to irritation to mesothelia by various causes is a most prevailing pathogenetic mechanism. About 20 cases have been reported in the worldwide literature. A 67-year-old female patient presented with cough and dyspnea for 2 months, without any history of previous cardiac operation. 2D echocardiography of the heart revealed moderate amount of pericardial effusion with posterior wall thickening. Under the impression of metastatic malignancy, pericardiostomy was performed. Grossly, the tissue was dark hemorrhagic and friable and the histologic sections revealed the solid tumor-like proliferation of round to polygonal histiocytic cells admixed with small cuboidal mesothelial cells which formed strips and tubular arrays. They were found within the fibrinous network and there were scattered empty vacuolar spaces. Immunohistochemical staining confirmed their biphasic nature with the CD68 positivity of the histiocytes and the cytokeratin positivity of the cuboidal cells. Factor VIII positivity was not detected in any cell components. The lesion was considered the monocytic and mesothelial proliferation of reactive nature, so-called cardiac MICE in the pericardial cavity. We report a typical case of so-called MICE first in the Korean literature.
Aged ; Animals ; Cellular Structures ; Cough ; Dyspnea ; Echocardiography ; Factor VIII ; Female ; Fibrin ; Heart ; Hemangioma ; Histiocytes ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Keratins ; Mice ; Monocytes ; Pericardial Effusion ; Pericardial Window Techniques ; Rhabdomyosarcoma

With the advent of 2- and 3-mm endoscopic instruments, a thoracoscopic pericardiectomy can be performed with relative ease and with almost no postoperative scar. We report a case of a 40-year-old woman with end-stage renal disease who had a large volume of pericardial effusion that did not abate after repeated dialysis. A pericardial window was performed by needlescopy for diagnostic and therapeutic reasons, and her postoperative scar was minimal. Her postoperative course was uneventful, and she has had no complications or recurrence of pericardial or pleural effusion.
Adult ; Cicatrix ; Dialysis ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Pericardial Effusion ; Pericardial Window Techniques ; Pericardiectomy ; Pleural Effusion ; Recurrence ; Renal Dialysis ; Temefos ; Thoracoscopy

Background: Failure of mitral valve repair sometimes may be ascribed to severe or progressive alteration of the subvalvar apparatus. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of new chordae formation on mitral repair. Material and Method: From March 1997 to February 1999, 26 patients underwent mitral valve repairs with new chordae formation, we compared the symptoms and echocardiographic findings checked at preoperative state, and intraoperative period, discharge, and their last OPD visit. There were 15 male , and 11 female patients, and their mean age was 51.2+/-13.4 years. Etiology of the lesions was degenerative (18), rheumatic (6), infective (1) and ischemic (1). Chordal lesions were caused by rupture (18), elongation (6), and a combination of two causes (2). Associated lesions included atrial septal defect (2), tricuspid insufficiency (7), aortic insufficiency(4), and a combination of previous two factors (2). The number of mean artificial chordae was 3.6+/-1.6. Annuloplasty was performed in all cases. The CPB time was 182.1+/-63.7 minutes and the ACC time was 133.1+/-45.6 minutes. Average follow up period was 49.2+/-7.1 months. Result: There was no early death. Early reoperation was performed in two patients, one patient received mitral valve replacement because of an abnormality of annuloplasty and another received pericardiostomy due to postoperative pericardial effusion. During the follow up of 49.2+/-7.1 moths, there was no late mortality. Postoperative NYHA functional class checked at last OPD visit was class I in 22 patients (88%), class II in 2 (8%), and class III in 1 (4%). Regarding the late echocardiogram MR was absent in 20 patients (78%), I in 4 (15%), and II in 1 (4%). The postrepair mitral valve area was 2.2+/-0.35 cm(2). Conclusion: This study suggests that mitral valve repair using new chordae formation provides good early and mid term survivals and functional improvement. We think that the artificial chorda formation with polytetrafluoroethylene suture might be safe and effective technique for mitral valve repair.
Echocardiography ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Septal Defects, Atrial ; Humans ; Intraoperative Period ; Male ; Mitral Valve* ; Mortality ; Moths ; Pericardial Effusion ; Pericardial Window Techniques ; Polytetrafluoroethylene ; Reoperation ; Rupture ; Sutures

Although autopsy studies suggest that malignant pericardial effusion is present in up to 15% of the patients suffering with malignancies, symptomatic pericardial effusion presenting as a first manifestation of systemic recurrence in a breast cancer patient is a rare condition. Symptomatic malignant pericardial effusion requires prompt attention and intervention since it can lead to the cardiac tamponade. Treatment of symptomatic pericardial effusion includes pericardial decompression and systemic or intrapericardial chemotherapy. We recently experienced a patient with early breast cancer who developed cardiac tamponade from malignant pericardial effusion as a first manifestation of systemic recurrence 4 years after her initial surgery. The patient was treated with percutaneous pericardiocentesis and she subsequently received systemic trastuzumab. After 6 cycles of trastuzumab, the follow-up CT showed complete disappearance of the pericardial effusion and the mediastinal lymph nodes.
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized ; Autopsy ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Cardiac Tamponade ; Decompression ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pericardial Effusion ; Pericardial Window Techniques ; Pericardiocentesis ; Recurrence ; Stress, Psychological ; Trastuzumab

Noonan syndrome is an autosomal dominant, multisystem disorder. Autoimmune thyroiditis with hypothyroidism is an infrequent feature in patients with Noonan syndrome. A 16-year-old boy was admitted because of chest discomfort and dyspnea; an echocardiogram revealed pericardial effusion. Additional investigations led to a diagnosis of severe hypothyroidism due to Hashimoto thyroiditis. The patient was treated with L-thyroxine at 0.15 mg daily. However, during admission, he developed symptoms of cardiac tamponade. Closed pericardiostomy was performed, after which the patient's chest discomfort improved, and his vital signs stabilized. Herein, we report a case of an adolescent with Noonan syndrome, who was diagnosed with Hashimoto thyroiditis with an unusual presentation of cardiac tamponade.
Adolescent ; Cardiac Tamponade* ; Diagnosis ; Dyspnea ; Hashimoto Disease* ; Humans ; Hypothyroidism ; Male ; Noonan Syndrome* ; Pericardial Effusion ; Pericardial Window Techniques ; Thorax ; Thyroiditis, Autoimmune ; Thyroxine ; Vital Signs