Cardiac tamponade in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia: a case report.

Serous effusion is a rare complication of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. We present a patient with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia who developed a massive pericardial effusion with cardiac tamponade as early manifestations. Numerous clumps of monocytes were observed in the effusion. The patient obtained rapid relief following the intravenous administration of etoposide (100 mg daily for 5 days). Few reports have documented details of such a case.