Effusive-constrictive pericarditis: the role of noninvasive imaging

Effusive-constrictive pericarditis is a rare entity in which clinical suspicion is of paramount importance, and although cardiac catheterization remains the gold standard for diagnosis, noninvasive imaging techniques are very useful in consolidating the diagnosis prior to confirmation by invasive means. The authors describe the case of a 52-year-old man, who had undergone heart surgery in the past, with a long history of heart failure refractory to medical therapy and chronic recurrent pericardial effusion, in whom noninvasive imaging techniques were decisive in arriving at the correct diagnosis of effusive-constrictive pericarditis, which was later confirmed by cardiac catheterization, thus enabling the correct therapeutic approach to be adopted and leading to improvement in clinical status.