Why the study?
Does thoracotomy with pericardial decompression improve symptoms in patients with acute leukemia and cardiac tamponade when conservative measures fail?
Does thoracotomy with pericardial decompression improve symptoms in patients with acute leukemia and cardiac tamponade when conservative measures fail?
Surgical decompression is a feasible alternative for managing cardiac tamponade in severely immunocompromised patients with acute leukemia when conservative measures fail.
May support surgical decompression in refractory tamponade with acute leukemia; leaves open confirmation in prospective studies.
Two patients with acute leukemia presented with symptomatic acute pericarditis and rapidly developed cardiac tamponade. Conservative management was not possible in either patient due to mechanical problems with fluid removal. Thoracotomy with pericardial decompression resulted in permanent relief of symptoms in both cases. Management of cardiac tamponade in acute leukemia by surgical decompression even in severely immunocompromised hosts is a feasible alternative and should be considered when more conservative measures fail or are not possible.
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Liepman et al. (1981) studied this question.
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