The Thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon
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Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · Apr 1984
Case ReportsCombined chylopericardium and chylothorax after total correction of Fallot's tetralogy.
Chylothorax as a complication of cardiovascular surgery has a reported incidence of lower than 0.5% and is extremely rare following intrapericardial procedures. Chylopericardium in particular has a reported incidence even lower than that of chylothorax. ⋯ The management was conservative, consisting of evacuation of chyle and adequate protein replacement along with a low fat diet. The alternative, operative management in the form of a low ligation of the thoracic duct, should be considered if the conservative management fails after 2 weeks of trial.