Successful Management of an Occult Cardiac Tamponade with Prompt Surgical Intervention and a Novel, Defined Pericardial Irrigation Protocol.

Purulent pericarditis is a rare entity in the postantibiotic era. It usually occurs in patients who have underlying chronic and immunosuppressing conditions and its presentation in the healthy adult population is quite rare. Infection of the pericardial space can occur via direct extension from infectious endocarditis, pneumonia, or empyema, or from a more distant source such as meningitis.