Malignant pericardial effusion from squamous cell cancer of the cervix

Although rarely diagnosed in women with gynecologic cancers, pericardial metastasis and effusion are often considered preterminal events. As newer therapies result in prolongation of survival for women with advanced cervical cancer, uncommon metastatic sites may be seen with increasing frequency, and warrant increased attention by the gynecologist with oncologic expertise.

Two women with squamous cell carcinoma and symptomatic pericardial effusion, one at initial presentation and the other as recurrent disease, are presented. Following pericardiocentesis, both patients received cisplatinum-based chemotherapy. The patient with effusion at diagnosis survived four months, with recurrent effusion at death. The second patient had no return of cardiac symptoms, with twelve month survival. As demonstrated by the cumulative experience of the six reported cases of this entity, many women with pericardial involvement are candidates for aggressive radiation or chemotherapy. Duration of time from primary therapy prior to occurrence of effusion correlates with survival.