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Cardiac tamponade produced by a loculated pericardial hematoma simulating a right atrial mass
M Pepi1, E Doria, C Fiorentini
1Istituto di Cardiologia dell'Università degli Studi, Istituto Ricerche Cardiovascolari G. Sisini, Fondazione I. Monzino, Centro Ricerche Cardiovascolari del C.N.R., Milan, Italy.
We report a case of cardiac tamponade due to thrombosis of a loculated pericardial effusion which occurred after open heart surgery. The loculated hematoma was highly echogenic and mimicked a right atrial mass. Cross-sectional echocardiography, in association with color Doppler flow imaging, was extremely useful in identifying this rare complication of cardiac surgery and, therefore, in determining the subsequent surgical approach.
We report a case of cardiac tamponade due to thrombosis of a loculated pericardial effusion which occurred after open heart surgery. The loculated hematoma was highly echogenic and mimicked a right atrial mass. Cross-sectional echocardiography, in association with color Doppler flow imaging, was extremely useful in identifying this rare complication of cardiac surgery and, therefore, in determining the subsequent surgical approach.