<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Background. Malignant pericardial effusion occurs in one tenth of all cancers. It is a very serious disorder that is mainly a secondary process due to metastasis because primary neoplasms of the pericardium such as mesotheliomas, sarcomas being exceedingly rare.Pericardial effusions with a cardiac tamponade constitute a surgical emergency and the pericardiocentesis represents the first class therapeutic recommendation. Pericardial effusion specimens are uncommon and to the best of our knowledge the current study is the largest systematic evaluation of pericardial fluid cytology performed to date.Material and Methods. Pericardial effusion specimens from 145 patients collected over a 10 year period were studied by cytology and results were compared with pericardial histology results. The minimum pericardial fluid volume used for adequate cytologic diagnosis in these patients was more than 60 mL.Results. Cytological diagnosis revealed malignant pericardial exudates in 100% of the studied patients. There was no any false negative result in comparison with histology.Conclusions. Cytology provides an immediate and accurate means of diagnosis. Immunocytology is very important in the diagnostic evaluation.</abstract>

Background. Malignant pericardial effusion occurs in one tenth of all cancers. It is a very serious disorder that is mainly a secondary process due to metastasis because primary neoplasms of the pericardium such as mesotheliomas, sarcomas being exceedingly rare.Pericardial effusions with a cardiac tamponade constitute a surgical emergency and the pericardiocentesis represents the first class therapeutic recommendation. Pericardial effusion specimens are uncommon and to the best of our knowledge the current study is the largest systematic evaluation of pericardial fluid cytology performed to date.Material and Methods. Pericardial effusion specimens from 145 patients collected over a 10 year period were studied by cytology and results were compared with pericardial histology results. The minimum pericardial fluid volume used for adequate cytologic diagnosis in these patients was more than 60 mL.Results. Cytological diagnosis revealed malignant pericardial exudates in 100% of the studied patients. There was no any false negative result in comparison with histology.Conclusions. Cytology provides an immediate and accurate means of diagnosis. Immunocytology is very important in the diagnostic evaluation.

Cytology of Pericardial Effusion due to Malignancy

Department of Pathology-Cytopathology, Medical School, University of Crete, University Hospital, Heraklion, Crete,

Cardio-Thoracic Surgery Department, Medical School, University of Crete, University Hospital, Heraklion, Crete,

Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, National Institute of Health (NIH), Clinical Center (CC), Bethesda, MD,

Romanian Journal of Internal Medicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

{"article-title":"Cytology of Pericardial Effusion due to Malignancy"}

Background. Malignant pericardial effusion occurs in one tenth of all cancers. It is a very serious disorder that is mainly a secondary process due to...

Cytology of Pericardial Effusion due to Malignancy

Publié en ligne: 22 sept. 2016

Pages: 179 - 183

Reçu: 27 janv. 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/rjim-2016-0026

Mots clés
Pericardial effusion, Pericardiocentesis, Cardial tamponade, Pericardial neoplasms, Cytology, Immunocytology

© 2016

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Cytology of Pericardial Effusion due to Malignancy

Publié en ligne: 22 sept. 2016

Pages: 179 - 183

Reçu: 27 janv. 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/rjim-2016-0026

Mots clésPericardial effusion, Pericardiocentesis, Cardial tamponade, Pericardial neoplasms, Cytology, Immunocytology

© 2016

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Mots clés
Pericardial effusion, Pericardiocentesis, Cardial tamponade, Pericardial neoplasms, Cytology, Immunocytology