Pericardial effusion in neonatal period

Abstract

The syntomatic pericardial effusion is an infrequent disorder during the neonatal period. We report one 27 days old newborn with Down's syndrome who was admitted with a heart failure associated to upper tract respiratory infection. A severe pericardial effusion was detected by the echocardiogram, which was disappearing by treatment with acetylsalicylic acid. We emphasise the importance of mling out a pericardial effusion by echocardiography in the presence of a clinical picture of heart failure due the risk of a cardiac tamponade.