%0 Journal Article %T Pericarditis y Pericardiectom¨ªa: Experiencia en el Hospital R. A. Calder¨®n Guardia, 2003-2010 %A Rub¨ª Chac¨®n %A Eric %A Morales Alp¨ªzar %A Catalina %A Arias %A Adriana %A Dam Arce %A Christian %A Salazar Vargas %A Carlos %J Revista Costarricense de Cardiolog¨ªa %D 2011 %I Asociaci¨®n Costarricense de Cardiolog¨ªa %X introduction. pericarditis may present with a pericardial effusion of variable size, inflammation alone or constrictive pericarditis. in a small percentage of cases, effusion and constriction can coincide. the causes of pericarditis are varied and on some occasions, surgery is recommended. this article is a report of our surgical experience in patients with pericarditis over the last 7 years at the r.a. calder¨®n guardia hospital. methods. the medical records of 19 consecutive individuals seen from 2003 to 2010, with pericardial effusion or constrictive pericarditis who required a surgical procedure were reviewed. we excluded those individuals who had a hemorrhagic pericardial effusion associated with over anticoagulation and other patients with systemic pathology or recent cardiac surgery. results. there were 11 males and 8 females patients. a total of 16 patients had a pericardial effusion and 3 had constrictive pericarditis. nonspecific pericarditis was seen in 37% of the patients, 32% had infectious pericarditis, 26% had malignant pericarditis, and 1 had chylous pericarditis. three patients had human immunodeficiency virus, 2 had tuberculous pericarditis, and 1 had nonspecific pericarditis. only 1 patient died in association with the surgery. conclusion. the clinical, surgical and anesthesiological management of patients with pericarditis is reviewed. a low output syndrome seen after pericardial decompression is also described and discussed %K pericarditis %K pericardial effusion %K cardiac tamponade %K constrictive pericarditis. %U http://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S1409-41422011000200004&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en