[Extracardiac malignancy presenting with cardiac tamponade]

We describe a 65-year-old man with cardiac tamponade as the first manifestation of malignancy. Biochemical, bacteriological and cytological examinations of the pericardial fluid were not diagnostic. Abdominal CT showed a mass in the right adrenal and fine needle aspiration revealed metastatic carcinoma. The patient died 4 months later with the clinical and roentgenological picture of bronchogenic carcinoma.