Pericardial Diseases in Lagos: A 5-Year Institutional Experience of Surgically Managed Cases

Pericardial diseases are common in clinical practice and may occur in isolation or form part of systemic disease. The clinical presentation of patients with pericardial disease is dependent on multiple factors, including the rate and volume of pericardial fluid accumulation, chronicity of the inflammatory process, and the degree of pericardial fibrosis and calcification. Cardiac tamponade and pericardial constriction are life-threatening sequelae of pericardial diseases, occurring in the acute and chronic stages, respectively. The management of pericardial diseases is multidisciplinary and may require surgical intervention. The aim of this study was to review our institutional experience in the surgical management of pericardial diseases.

We conducted a single-centre retrospective review of records of patients with pericardial diseases managed over a 5-year period spanning from August 2018 to 2023.

A total of 141 patient records were analysed for the study period with a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.39 and a mean age of 32.7 ± 18.82 years. Tuberculous pericarditis was the most frequent cause of pericardial disease (53%), with most (74%) patients presenting with pericardial tamponade.

Pericardial diseases are common reasons for presentation, and tuberculous pericarditis ranks highest. There are notable challenges in diagnosis and treatment. Surgical morbidity and mortality could improve with the addition of recent advanced techniques to our diagnostic and surgical armamentarium.