What is it about?
We suggest the routine check of neoplastic markers (CEA, CYFRA 21-1 and possibly other markers) in the paricardial fluid to improve the diagnosis of neoplastic pericarditis. As regards the management, we report the utility of intrapericardal chemotherapy for the treatment of neoplastic pericarditis due to solid cancers.
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Why is it important?
Adding tumor markers to the analysis of pericardial fluid may orient the diagnosis in a short time; it is mostly helpful in small hospitals without a pathology laboratory, but is also useful if a prompt differential diagnosis is necessary, waiting for the pathology results. The advantages of intarpericardial chemotherapy are not well known by the cardiologists not specifically dedicated to cardio-oncology.
Perspectives
Neoplastic pericarditis may be a clinical challenge, and suggestions from large centers with wide experience in the field may be useful to the general cardiologist who faces this problem for the first time. I hope that this article will help the.
Dr Chiara Lestuzzi
CRO, National Cancer Institute, Aviano (PN)
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Letters to the Editor, Clinical Cardiology, January 2012, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/clc.21952.
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