Page 201 - Clinical Manual of Small Animal Endosurgery

Thoracoscopy 189

Fig. 6.11 Care should be taken when incising the pericardium to avoid
incising the auricles. The initial incision when performing a pericardiectomy
is best made further caudally over the ventricles.

Fig. 6.12 A haemangiosarcoma on the right atrium apparent after a
subtotal pericardiectomy. Small pedunculated atrial masses could be
considered for palliative extracorporeal knot ligation.

the flaccid cut section of pericardium to make incising easier. Depending
on the thickness of the pericardium and amount of associated adipose
tissue, a larger 10 mm port is often needed for extraction. The pericar-
dium should be removed through a port, or in an extraction bag, and
not pulled through the unprotected incision, to limit risk of port-site
metastasis in cases of neoplasia. Port-site metastasis of an invasive mes-
othelioma has been described after simple exploratory thoracoscopy in