Chest
Selected ReportsFatal Pneumopericardium Caused by SF6 Gas Infusion into the Pleural Space after Pneumonectomy and Pericardial Resection
Section snippets
CASE REPORT
A 63-year-old man was admitted to the Thoracic Surgical Unit for evaluation of the abnormal shadow on a chest x-ray film. For about six months before admission, he had suffered severe coughing episodes and occasional bloody sputum. The chest x-ray film and computed tomogram revealed a large mass at the right hilar zone. The cytologic examination by bronchofiberscopy demonstrated malignant cells interpreted as squamous cell carcinoma. Preoperative ECG showed normal sinus rhythm and the ischemic
DISCUSSION
After pneumonectomy, the patient's mediastinum and heart usually shift to the operated side. With the excessive shift or rotation of the heart, the postoperative ECG waves sometimes become abnormal, and in patients with emphysematous lung, the unilateral pneumonectomy causes occasionally the advance of emphysematous change of contralateral lung. Nanmoto et al2 reported that the introduction of SF6 gas, which was inert and nonnoxious, into the pleural space after pneumonectomy might help to keep
REFERENCES (2)
- et al.
Pneumopericardium result in cardiac tamponade
Ann Thorac Surg
(1984) - et al.
Long-term follow-up of cases treated with SF6 in lung cancer patients
Proceeding of 26th Annual Meeting of Jap Society for Thorac Dis
(1986)