Hematoma pericárdico dos años después de cirugía coronaria

Abstract

Cardiac tamponade is a life-threatening complication after cardiac surgery which may develop in the early or late postoperative period. The latest have been defined arbitrarily as the ones ocurring after the 7th postoperative day. They are less common than the early ones and most of the cases have been reported up to six months after the operation. They usually determine diagnostic difficulties that can negatively influence the prognosis. Because of its atypical late appearance, a case of a 65 year old man is presented who developed a postpericardiotomy syndrome and subsequently a pericardial clot nearly two years after aortocoronary bypass grafting.