The American Journal of Medicine
Volume 118, Issue 6 , Pages 636-640 , June 2005

The composition of normal pericardial fluid and its implications for diagnosing pericardial effusions

  • Shomron Ben-Horin, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine F, Sheba Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.
    • Corresponding Author InformationRequests for reprints should be addressed to Shomron Ben-Horin, MD, Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases Division, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer 52621, Israel.
    • ,
  • Ami Shinfeld, MD

      Affiliations

    • Cardiovascular Surgery Department, Sheba Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.
    • ,
  • Erez Kachel, MD

      Affiliations

    • Cardiovascular Surgery Department, Sheba Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.
    • ,
  • Angela Chetrit, MA

      Affiliations

    • Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Sheba Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.
    • ,
  • Avi Livneh, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine F, Sheba Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.

References 

  1. Sargista-Sauleda J , Merce J , Permanyer-Miralda G , Soler-Soler J . Clinical clues to the causes of large pericardial effusions . Am J Med . 2000;109:95–101
  2. Atar S , Chiu J , Forrester JS , Siegel RJ . Bloody pericardial effusion in patients with cardiac tamponade (is the cause cancerous, tuberculous, or iatrogenic in the 1990s?) . Chest . 1999;116:1564–1569
  3. Schumann BG . Clinical utility of body fluid analyses (An overview) . Clin Lab Sci . 1994;7:28–31
  4. Hutchin P , Nino HV , Suberman R . Electrolyte and acid-base composition of pericardial fluid in man . Arch Surg . 1971;102:28–30
  5. Selmeci L , Antal M , Horkay F , et al.   Enhanced accumulation of pericardial fluid ferritin in patients with coronary artery disease . Coron Artery Dis . 2000;11:53–56
  6. Kjeldsberg CR , Knight JA . Body fluids . In: 3rd ed.. Chicago, Illinois: The American Society of Clinical Pathologists Press; 1993;p. 159–222
  7. Spodick DH . The pericardium—A comprehensive textbook . In: New York, New York: Mercel Dekker Inc; 1997;p. 23–25
  8. Meyers DG , Meyers RE , Prendergast TW . The usefulness of diagnostic tests on pericardial fluid . Chest . 1997;111:1213–1221
  9. Burgess LJ , Reuter H , Taljaard JJ , Doubell AF . Role of biochemical tests in the diagnosis of large pericardial effusions . Chest . 2002;121:495–499
  10. Light RW . Pleural effusions . N Engl J Med . 2002;346:1971–1977
  11. Benhaiem-Sigaux N , Mina E , Sigaux F , et al.   Characterization of human pericardial macrophages . J Leukoc Biol . 1985;38:709–721

PII: S0002-9343(05)00211-1

doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2005.01.066

The American Journal of Medicine
Volume 118, Issue 6 , Pages 636-640 , June 2005

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