Pneumopericardium, and especially tension pneumopericardium, are relatively rare consequences of penetrating, blunt or iatrogenic injury. Despite its rarity and the compressibility of air, pneumopericardium can result in life threatening cardiac tamponade. We present two recent cases of this rare condition with divergent aetiologies from which lessons can be learned. The pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of pneumopericardium are reviewed.
The acute effect of maternal cigarette smoking was studied in 10 patients between 37 and 40 weeks gestation. There was a significant reduction in the percentage of time the fetus spent moving during the first 16 rnin of smoking (P(0.02). No significant changes were seen in the proportion of time the fetus spent breathing or the number of times the fetus changed from high or intermediate to low heart period variability. There were significant reductions in the number of accelerations (P
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