Carcinoembryonic antigens in the pericardial fluid of patients with malignant pericarditis.

The diagnostic accuracy of measurement of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and of analysis of the cytological characteristics of pericardial fluid was assessed in 10 patients with benign pericarditis and 7 patients with malignant pericarditis. The mean CEA levels of pericardial fluid specimens from patients with malignant pericarditis were significantly higher than those from patients with benign pericarditis. However, a high CEA level was not seen in a specimen of pericardial fluid which contained nonepithelial tumor cells. Positive cytological findings were obtained in specimens of pericardial fluid from 85.7% of the patients with malignant pericarditis. Correct diagnosis of malignancy was made by CEA assay alone or by cytological examination alone in 85.7% of the patients examined, while a combination of these methods raised the diagnostic rate to 100%.