Constrictive pericarditis

Constrictive pericarditis is a rare but severely disabling consequence of the chronic inflammation of the pericardium, leading to an impaired filling of the ventricles and reduced ventricular function. Patients complain about fatigue, peripheral edema, breathlessness and abdominal swelling; signs and symptoms of right-sided heart failure. Besides history and physical examination, diagnostic studies aid in the diagnosis, including electrocardiogram, chest x-ray, echocardiogram, chest CT and/or MRI, and hemodynamic measurements. Medical management with diuretics and salt restriction is useful for symptomatic relief of fluid overload and peripheral edema, but patients ultimately become refractory. Although conservative treatment may alleviate the patient's symptoms, pericardiectomy remains the onlydefinitive treatment for the disease. An interesting and representative case of constrictive pericarditis is presented in this article.