Treating cardiac tamponade due to malignant effusion with percutaneous balloon pericardiotomy: Back to the future

Key points Percutaneous balloon pericardiotomy (PBP) involves creation of large hole in the pericardium with balloon inflation to avoid the need for a surgical “window” for treatment of malignant pericardial effusion. The procedure can be safely performed effectively with low complication rate and it can be repeated for recurrent pericardial effusion. The recurrence rate of pericardial effusion was 24.5% with a mean survival of 5.8 months. The subgroup surviving at least 1 month, likely had a longer median survival than the overall group, suggesting its value in a subgroup of patients.