title: First steps in the management of pericardial effusion: who was first to relieve the pericardial sac--Larrey or Romero?
abstract: Early reports told us that the first pericardiotomy was performed by Baron Dominique Jean Larrey, Napoleon's chief military surgeon. In this article, we reveal a previous operation of that kind and its publication by Francisco Romero, who had a 9-year head start over Larrey's performance. The aim of this article was to briefly review the two-century-old history of pericardial fenestration.
authors.affiliation: Department of General and Thoracic Surgery, Semmelweis Teaching Hospital, Miskolc, Hungary. b.medorim@upcmail.hu
authors.forename: Imre
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tóth
authors.forename: Ramon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rami-Porta
authors.forename: Szilárd
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rendeki
authors.forename: Tamás F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Molnár
mesh_terms: D019024:Barber Surgeons / Q000266:history; D005602:France; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D008887:Military Medicine / Q000266:history; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000266:history* / Q000601:surgery; D010492:Pericardiectomy / Q000266:history*; D013030:Spain; D013906:Thoracoscopy / Q000266:history