Successful Pericardiocentesis for Cardiac Tamponade in a Patient with Thrombocytopenic Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia

Cardiac tamponade (CT) as a clinical manifestation of lymphomas is extremely rare. Although leukaemic infiltration of the pericardium is frequently observed at post-mortem, clinically evident cardiac tamponade is also rare. We present a case of cardiac tamponade complicating leukaemia. The patient had cardiac tamponade and severe thrombocytopenia during chemotherapy due to relapsed and refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We experienced complete resolution of the pericardial effusion without any bleeding complications after urgent pericardiocentesis within 15 days after successful ibubrufen-colchicine therapy. The exciting feature of this paper is that rescue pericardiosentesis may be livesaving despite crucial states, such as severe thrombocytopenia.