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. 1999 Aug;80(12):1955–1957. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6690625

Treatment of malignant pericardial effusion with 32P-colloid

W Dempke 1,2, N Firusian 2
PMCID: PMC2363149  PMID: 10471044

Abstract

Malignant pericardial effusion is usually treated only when signs of cardiac tamponade develop. Several methods of treatment have been reported with an overall response rate of approximately 75%. Since our initial study using intrapericardial 32P-colloid instillation as a treatment modality for pericardial effusion demonstrated a significant higher response rate, this study was conducted to further evaluate the efficacy of intrapericardial 32P-colloid in terms of response rates and duration of remissions. Intrapericardial instillation of 185–370 MBq (5–10 mCi) 32P-colloid in 36 patients with malignant pericardial effusion resulted in a complete remission rate of 94.5% (34 patients) whereas two patients did not respond to treatment due to a foudroyant formation of pericardial fluid. The median duration time was 8 months. No side-effects were observed. These results suggest that intrapericardial instillation of 32P-colloid is a simple, reliable and safe treatment strategy for patients with malignant pericardial effusions. Therefore, since further evidence is provided that 32P-colloid is significantly more effective than external radiation or non-radioactive sclerosing agents, this treatment modality should be considered for the management of malignant pericardial effusion. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaign

Keywords: pericardial effusion, 32P-colloid, response rates

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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