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Constrictive Pericarditis: A Commonly Missed Cause of Treatable Diastolic Heart Failure

Pradnya Brijmohan Bhattad1, Vinay Jain2

  • 1Internal Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, USA.

Cureus
|June 13, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Constrictive pericarditis, a condition of pericardial thickening, causes heart failure symptoms due to increased venous pressures. The primary treatment for this challenging condition is surgical pericardiectomy.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Internal Medicine
  • Pathology

Background:

  • Constrictive pericarditis results from pericardial thickening due to chronic inflammation.
  • This thickening elevates pulmonary and systemic venous pressures, leading to heart failure.
  • Common causes include idiopathic/post-viral pericarditis, postpericardiotomy, and radiation therapy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To summarize the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and management of constrictive pericarditis.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on constrictive pericarditis.
  • Analysis of clinical features and diagnostic challenges.
  • Evaluation of treatment options.

Main Results:

  • Right-sided heart failure symptoms often predominate due to pressure equalization.
  • No single diagnostic test definitively confirms constrictive pericarditis.
  • Medical management is often ineffective.

Conclusions:

  • Constrictive pericarditis presents with heart failure due to pericardial constriction.
  • Diagnosis can be challenging, lacking a single definitive test.
  • Pericardiectomy is the definitive treatment for constrictive pericarditis.

Keywords:
constrictive pericarditisdiastolic heart failure

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