Cardiac tamponade as a complication of thin-needle aspiration lung biopsy

Thin-needle aspiration lung biopsy has become an important diagnostic technique in chest disease. Complications, other than pneumothorax, are infrequent. We report a case of acute cardiac tamponade complicating biopsy of a lesion near the mediastinum. Caution should be exercised in selecting patients for, and in performing biopsies in, or close to the mediastinum.