Intrapericardial abnormalities in patients with pericardial effusion. Findings by two-dimensional echocardiography.

Ten patients with pericardial fluid who also had striking band-like intrapericardial echoes by two-dimensional ultrasonic sector scanning are reported. Four patients had prior mediastinal radiation and four patients had severe renal disease. One patient had purulent pericarditis and one patient had traumatic hemopericardium. The two-dimensional images permitted recognition of loculation of fluid and led to the suspicion of thickened pericardial membranes. Three postradiation patients had both tamponade and constriction; tamponade alone was present in four additional patients. These data are preliminary but suggest that such findings by two-dimensional echocardiography should alert us to consider an effusive-constrictive form of pericardial disease.