Bacterial pericarditis is a rare presentation and is usually due to secondary infection from a hematogenous cause or can occur secondary to trauma, intrathoracic surgery, or due to spread of infection from a contiguous focus via ligaments that anchor the pericardium to its surrounding structures. Its course is fulminant characterized by a high mortality rate from sepsis, tamponade, and constriction. We describe a rare case of Staphylococcus aureus pericarditis with concurrent unilateral empyema. The patient rapidly developed tamponade and was successfully treated with antibiotics and urgent percutaneous pericardial drainage with placement of a temporary catheter. Treatment for bacterial pericarditis typically is 4–6 weeks long. Thoracic surgery should be consulted as soon as possible to determine need for surgical intervention, as fibrin deposition may occur, making percutaneous drainage incomplete and leading to complications of persistent purulent pericarditis or constrictive pericarditis.
Pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma is a rare vascular tumor and infrequently described in medical literature as case reports and case series. Diagnosis is often incidental with high index of histopathological suspicion from clinical pathologist. The pathological pattern is quite unique with distinct immunohistochemical stains. Up to this day, there is no established standard treatment owing to the scarcity of this tumor. In this case report, we describe a case of pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma unexpectedly diagnosed with transthoracic needle biopsy, along with a review of the current literature.
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