The Insidious Course of Chronic Constrictive Pericarditis: A Case Report

Abstract

Chronic constrictive pericarditis is an inflammatory disease of the pericardium, characterized by a fibro-calcareous pericardial thickening. This thickening is responsible for an impairment of ventricular filling, thus defining adiastole (1). This almost always affects both ventricles, increasing interventricular interdependence and leading to equalization of right and left filling pressures. The etiology of the condition has changed dramatically over time (2). Tuberculosis, once a common cause, has given way to a multitude of other causes. The clinical picture is often non-specific. The diagnosis may be difficult in some cases. The diagnosis is made mainly by chest X-ray, cardiac echo-Doppler and cardiac catheterization. Subtotal pericardectomy is necessary in severe forms of the disease (1). We report the medical observation of a 37-year-old patient admitted to our department for management of predominantly right heart failure.