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Multimodality Imaging of Pericardial Diseases
Mouaz H Al-Mallah1,2,3,4, Fatimah Almasoudi5, Mohamed Ebid5
1King Abdulaziz Cardiac Center, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard - Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. mouaz74@gmail.com.
Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine
|October 14, 2017
Summary
Pericardial disease causes are shifting, making diagnosis challenging. Advanced imaging like CT and cardiac MRI (CMR) are crucial for complex cases, guiding treatment and prognosis.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Radiology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Pericardial disease epidemiology is evolving due to an aging population and fewer infectious causes.
- Diagnosis remains challenging, necessitating timely identification to prevent severe complications like constrictive pericarditis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the changing landscape of pericardial disease etiology.
- To emphasize the importance of multimodality imaging in diagnosing complex pericardial conditions.
Main Methods:
- Echocardiography as the initial diagnostic tool.
- Computed Tomography (CT) and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CMR) for complex cases.
- Assessment of pericardial calcification, edema, and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) with CT and CMR.
Main Results:
- CT and CMR offer detailed views of the pericardium and adjacent structures.
- CMR can identify pericardial edema and LGE, indicators of disease progression.
- Imaging findings correlate with prognosis, predicting heart failure risk.
Conclusions:
- A shift from infectious to postradiation and postsurgical causes of pericardial disease is observed.
- Multimodality imaging, combining echocardiography with CT and CMR, is essential for accurate diagnosis and management.
- Advanced imaging techniques provide prognostic insights for patients with complex pericardial diseases.