The Myth of an Afterlife: The Case against Life After Death edited by Michael Martin and Keith Augustine, Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. ISBN 978-0-8108-8677-3. A Traveler's Guide to the Afterlife: Traditions and Beliefs on Death, Dying, and What Lies Beyond by Mark Mirabello, Ph.D. Inner Traditions.
In 1956, Proudfit and Effler 1 reported a simple method of performing pericardial biopsy which provides adequate amounts of tissue for bacteriologic and histologic study. Safe and effective pericardial drainage can be accomplished by the same procedure.
A pericardial window is not the only way to remove fluid around the heart. Another procedure used by doctors is catheter pericardiocentesis. This uses a needle and a long, thin tube (a catheter) to drain the fluid from the heart.