[A case of cardiac tamponade due to breast cancer treated with weekly paclitaxel]

A 44-year-old woman who underwent surgery for left breast cancer 2 years ago presented with dyspnea. Her pathological stage of breast cancer was T2N1M0, ER (3+), PgR (3+), and HER2: 1+. She was treated with tamoxifen only as adjuvant therapy. Pleural effusion in both lungs and pericardial effusion were detected by computed tomography. We aspirated 1,100 mL of the pleural effusion and 700 mL of the pericardial effusion; the cytologies of both were class V. Because her dyspnea disappeared, she was administered weekly paclitaxel. Her pleural effusion and pericardial fluid have not re- emerged. The therapy of choice for pericardial effusion is local chemotherapy or systemic chemotherapy. Systemic chemotherapy after pericardial drainage was effective for this patient. Key words: Breast cancer.