Cardiac herniation after extrapleural pneumonectomy.

Cardiac herniation is a fatal complication in patients undergoing pneumonectomy with pericardial resection. A 53-year-old man underwent right-sided extrapleural pneumonectomy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. He underwent right-sided pericardial resection and reconstruction with an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene sheet. Routine chest radiography performed 18 h postoperatively revealed cardiac herniation into the right-sided thoracic cavity. The patient was immediately transferred to the operating room, and the defect was repaired. He died of tumor progression. However, cardiac herniation did not recur over 2 years postoperatively.