title: [Chronic aortic dissection disclosed by pericardial effusion. Apropos of 3 cases].
abstract: Three exceptional cases of chronic aortic dissection revealed by a pericardial effusion are reported. The patients were two men and a woman admitted for thoracic pain or fever. Initial diagnoses were myocardial infarction, infective endocarditis and tuberculous pericarditis. The effusions were drained on two occasions. Because the pericardial fluid was a mixture of serum and blood, computerized tomography of the thorax and abdomen was performed. All three cases were then diagnosed as aortic dissection (type II in two cases and type III in one case, with retrograde extension to the ascending aorta). The authors underline the utility of drainage and the need for systematic CT scans in patients with sero-haematic pericardial effusion of uncertain origin.
authors.affiliation: Service de cardiologie C, hôpital cardiologique, Lille.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Groote
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Millaire
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caron
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tison
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brullard
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marquand
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ducloux
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000784:Aortic Dissection / Q000150:complications*; D001011:Aorta; D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000150:complications*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000209:etiology*
vernacular_title: Dissection aortique chronique révélée par un épanchement péricardique. A propos de trois cas.