Case report Constrictive pericarditis – a case report

Abstract

A case of a 56-year-old man with constrictive pericarditis which was diagnosed and operated for the first time in 1996, is described. After that, the patient has been hospitalised for several times because of heart failure. On admission to the hospital, he complained of dyspnea on exertion and peripheral edema. Computerised tomography of the chest demonstrated a thickened, calcified pericardium. The combination of imaging and hemodynamic findings established the diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis. The patient was referred to cardiothoracic surgery for pericardiectomy. The patient had an uneventful postoperative recovery and was discharged from the hospital on the twenty seven postoperative day.