Cardiac tamponade and purulent pericarditis secondary to an oesophageal pericardial fistula as an initial presentation of squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus

What is it about?

Pericardial effusions are fluid collection around the heart in a sac-like structure called the pericardial cavity. There are many causes for this, the most common being infections, inflammation, autoimmune diseases. We describe the case of a female patient who developed shock due to a massive effusion around her heart. The patient was taken to the OR emergently and had surgery with the drainage of 1 L of pus from the space around the heart. She was found to have an abnormal connection between her esophagus and the surrounding area of her heart, causing all food to accumulate there and cause an infection. this abnormal connection was found to be secondary to esophageal cancer.

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