title: [Medical pericarditis: study of 19 cases].
abstract: 19 cases of medical pericarditis admitted to the PICU from 1978 to 1989 were reviewed, to asses the diagnostic and therapeutical approach. The overall incidence is low, 0.32% of the patients admitted to the PICU in that time period. We have found neither tuberculous nor purulent pericarditis, with a 42% of idiopatic forms. Echocardiography was the best method for syndromic diagnosis. The ethiological diagnosis of pericarditis was made, in most cases, by means of non invasive methods or in association with the underlying disease. The cualitative analysis of the pericardial fluid was not useful for the ethiological diagnosis, therefore, we suggest pericardiocentesis should be performed mainly as a therapeutical tool. There were no correlation between the amount of fluid obtained on the first pericardiocentesis and the later incidence of the pericardial effusion. Biopsy brought no ethiological specificity in the cases it was performed.
authors.affiliation: Médico Adjunto del Servicio de Cardiología Pediátrica, UCIP, Hospital Infantil La Paz, Madrid.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lamamie de Clairac Delgado
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ulloa Santamaría
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: García García
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Rubio Vidal
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Delgado Domínguez
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Goded Rimbau
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cordovilla Zurdo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005122:Exudates and Transudates; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010490:Pericardial Effusion; D010491:Pericardial Window Techniques; D010493:Pericarditis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D014463:Ultrasonography
vernacular_title: Pericarditis médicas: estudio de 19 casos.