To study the effectiveness of inserting central venous catheter was inserted into pericardial cavity for the drainage and treatment of lung cancer hydropericardium.
If there's a severe pericardial effusion, a pericardiocentesis can be done by inserting a needle into the pericardial cavity and draining the excess fluid.
When the pericardium is involved, it often leads to pericarditis —inflammation of the pericardium— and pericardial effusion, an accumulation of fluid in the pericardial cavity.
The inner layer of the pouch is the serous pericardium that includes the pericardial cavity, and is filled with a small amount of fluid that lets the heart slip around as it beats.
The cells of the serous pericardium secrete and reabsorb the fluid, so usually there's no more than 50 milliliters of fluid in the pericardial cavity at one time - that's about as much as a shot glass.