title: Transdiaphragmatic drainage of pericardial effusion with severe pericardial adhesions.
abstract: We describe a method to perform successful drainage of pericardial effusion by incising the diaphragm via the peritoneal cavity assisted by transesophageal echocardiography. This transdiaphragmatic approach is a remarkably simple and useful method for pericardial drainage when the conventional transsubxiphoid approach is difficult and dangerous because of intractable adhesions between the heart and the pericardium.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart Institute of Japan, Tokyo Women's Medical College, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ohkado
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tomizawa
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishida
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koyanagi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004322:Drainage / Q000379:methods*; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000628:therapy*; D010496:Pericardium / Q000473:pathology*; D000267:Tissue Adhesions; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional