[Latent chronic constrictive pericarditis. Rapid filling overload for an accurate hemodynamic diagnosis (author's...

Chest roentgenogram showed a pericardial calcification in a patient with inconspicuous signs of cardiac disease and normal basal pressures in the right cavities. A typical hemodynamic tracing of chronic constrictive pericarditis was obtained with rapid filling overload. The uncommeness of silent chronic constrictive pericarditis is mentioned and the usefulness of rapid filling overload for an accurate hemodynamic diagnosis of this condition is emphasized. Denomination of "latent" chronic constrictive pericarditis for similar cases to this reported is proposed.