Symptomatic pericardial effusions in childhood

: We present the clinical data and the management of twelve patients with symptomatic pericardial effusion (PE). The etiology of PE was: Chronic renal failure, viral infection, cardiac surgery, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and chronic myelocytic leukemia. Four cases were diagnosed as idiophatic. PE in childhood is usually asymptomatic. When symptoms are present they are non-specific and don't help to know the size of the effusion; therefore, it's necessary to practice an echocardiography to demostrate the presence of PE. The hemodynamic findings permit to diferentiate patients with and without cardiac tamponade. The treatment of first choice is aspirin. In patients with cardiac tamponade the treatment should be pericardiocentesis.