The surgical treatment for pericarditis has, in the past, been limited to two stages of the condition: (1) during the acute stage, in the suppurative form, and (2) in the late stage, when an attempt is made to relieve the dense adhesions which impair the cardiac action.
Early surgical intervention is the accepted method of treatment in purulent pericarditis. Surgical treatment is of considerable value in the late stages of the condition, which are characterized by dense adhesions, not only between the two layers of pericardium, but between the pericardium, mediastinal structures and the wall of the chest. The operative procedure of choice in these cases is cardiolysis according to the technic of Brauer.1 Delorme2 deserves credit for first having proposed an operative procedure for relief from existing pericardial adhesions. He advocated the removal of the intrapericardial and extrapericardial adhesions in order to relieve the symptoms of cardiac embarrassment. The