부산대학교 도서관

Purulent pericarditis presents essentially the same chain of symptoms as those shown by a non-septic pericardial inflammation. The history of the case may point strongly in the direction of a purulent effusion, but the aspirator alone can determine positively the nature of the fluid. The disease may even run its course without such aids to diagnosis, as fever and edema of overlying tissue. A preëxistent or a co-existing ulcerative endocarditis, a pyemia, tuberculosis or an empyema, an abscess of the mediastinum, caries of the ribs, gangrene of the lungs, or a trauma may make evident the presence of pus, and are among the leading causes of purulent effusion into the pericardium. Pericarditis whether purulent or non-purulent is a secondary trouble, and is probably frequently overlooked by the physician.The healthy pericardial sac of an adult holds from 420 to 630 grams. It is somewhat pyriform in shape and lies back