[Pericardioperitoneal shunt in the treatment of pericardial effusions in neoplasic patients].
Neoplasia-related pericardial effusions are a frequent finding and pose diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Although they appear in the context of an underlying neoplastic disease, 50% of these effusions have a benign etiology; they are indirectly caused by the tumor. The remaining cases (neoplastic pericardial effusions - NPE) derive from extension of tu- moral disease to the epi and/or pericardium and have, therefore, a worst prognosis. Despite several treatment options, the lack of appropriate guidelines difficults the evaluation of their efficacy and safety. Pericardioperitoneal shunt (PPS) is a surgical pericardial drainage method, which has demonstrated its usefulness in the management of NPE. At the CHC, this procedure is performed under videoassisted toracoscopic guidance (VATS). During the last 8 years, 18 patients have been submitted to this therapeutic option, which proved to be safe, efficacious and with low morbimortality rates.
PubMed Abstracts
PubMed Abstracts