title: AIDS-related cardiac tamponade: is surgical drainage justified?
abstract: In order to evaluate the usefulness of surgical drainage in the treatment of patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related cardiac tamponade, we reviewed our experience with subxiphoid pericardiostomy on 5 consequent such patients. One patient died in the immediate postoperative period and the remaining 4 died within 21 weeks after the operation. Similar results have been reported by other authors who found that surgical drainage has no diagnostic or therapeutic benefit over pericardiocentesis in this particular group of patients. Based on our limited experience and the data of the literature, we feel that surgical drainage cannot be justified as the primary method of treatment of AIDS-related cardiac tamponade.
authors.affiliation: Athens University Medical School, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Theodosios J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Dosios
authors.forename: Nikolaos P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Theakos
authors.forename: Dimitrios C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Angouras
authors.forename: Olga I
authors.initials: OI
authors.lastname: Katsarou
authors.forename: Panayiotis J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Asimacopoulos
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002305:Cardiac Tamponade / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D004322:Drainage; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D010492:Pericardiectomy; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies