Total pericardiectomy for chronic constrictive pericarditis using femoro-femoral bypass.

A technique of total pericardiectomy for chronic constrictive pericarditis is presented. The authors have used a femoro-femoral cardiopulmonary bypass in nine cases of constrictive pericarditis to prevent the complications of the traditional approach. The advantages of this technique in comparison to the performance of pericardiectomy without the use of extracorporeal circulation (ECC) or with standard ECC are discussed.