Constrictive pericarditis: retrospective study of 109 patients

Background Chronic constrictive pericarditis is the most common diastolic disorder of the heart. Non-elasticity of the pericardium with impaired cardiac diastolic function is constriction. Chronic constrictive pericarditis is the result of scarring and fibrosis in mid and late diastole. The clinical presentation is similar to that of right heart failure. Historically, the etiology is helpful but not diagnostic. Echocardiography and a hemodynamic study are the main diagnostic tools. A thick pericardium of more than 4 mm is not necessarily constrictive, but thickness ≥7 mm is highly specific for constrictive features. Pericardiectomy is usually associated with early normalization of hemodynamics, which can be achieved via a mid-sternotomy or left anterolateral thoracotomy. Methods Data of 109 patients who underwent pericardiectomy from January 1987 to June 2016 were reviewed retrospectively. Results The outcome of our 109 cases consisted of mortality in 2 patients only. Conclusion Progressive, fibrotic, thickened, adherent inflammatory changes in response to various pathologies of the pericardium impairing diastolic filling can be treated by pericardiectomy. Pericardiectomy can be achieved by a mid-sternotomy or anterolateral thoracotomy without any difference in outcome. The initial hemodynamic and clinical result may not always be dramatic but continued improvement is definite because of progressive enlargement of left ventricular dimensions.