ACUTE LEFT-VENTRICULAR FAILURE WITH PULMONARY-EDEMA FOLLOWING PERICARDIOCENTESIS FOR CARDIAC-TAMPONADE - A CASE-REPORT

We describe the complications of pericardiocentesis and their manageme nt in an 18 year-old man. This patient was admitted because of dyspnea and was found on echocardiogram to have cardiac tamponade with coexis ting left ventricular dysfunction. He developed acute left ventricular failure with severe pulmonary edema immediately after pericardiocente sis. This complication may have been caused by an abrupt increase in v enous return to the failing left ventricle following the release of th e pericardial compression. Therefore, pericardial fluid must be draine d with caution in pericardiocentesis, especially in cardiac tamponade patients with left ventricular dysfunction, and hemodynamics should be monitored both during and after this procedure.