Constrictive Pericarditis - A Rare but Important Cause of Recurrent Cardiac Failure: A Case Report

VYT Lim, RML Kam, KKW Chen, FK Cheah, ZP Ding
Correspondence: Dr R M L Kam, Ruth_KAM@nhc.com.sg

ABSTRACT
Constrictive pericarditis (CP) is an uncommon cardiac disease which is often difficult to diagnose because of its vague and myriad clinical presentations. We report a case of a middle-aged lady who had non-specific symptoms and signs for six years before she was eventually diagnosed to have idiopathic constrictive pericarditis. An awareness and understanding of this condition is important, as it is a progressive condition and the likelihood of cure depends very much on its early identification and treatment.

Keywords: congestive cardiac failure, constrictive pericarditis, echocardiogram, magnetic resonance imaging, pericardiectomy
Singapore Med J 2002; 43(6): 308-311