Constrictive Pericarditis After Cardiac Transplantation: A Case Report and Literature Review

Pericardial constriction after cardiac transplantation

“…13 Previous reports in which postoperative clinical data are available have demonstrated that approximately 50% of patients enjoy satisfactory, long-term, symptom-free survival. 9,10,[12][13][14][15][16] Our results confirm the potential for excellent longterm outcomes when the condition is diagnosed and treated early. When the diagnosis is delayed or recognized late, this condition is associated with malnutrition, coagulopathy, and liver and kidney insufficiency.…”

Constrictive Pericarditis in the Presence of Remaining Remnants of a Left Ventricular Assist Device in a Heart Transplanted Patient

“…Diagnostic procedures comprise ECG, cardiac catheterization, thoracic CT, and cardiac MRI [ 4 , 10 ]. Most common echocardiographic findings in CP are an impaired diastolic ventricular filling with enlarged atria due to elevated atrial pressure and a preserved systolic ventricular function.…”

“…To determine pericardial thickness, inflammatory reaction, fibrotic organization, pericardial effusion, or the degree of calcification, CT or MRI may be applied [ 4 , 10 ].…”

“…Infection, acute rejection, and cardiac allograft vasculopathy have been described as major risk factors for patients with HTX [ 12 ]. During the last decades, several reports about CP after HTX have been published [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 10 , 12 , 15 – 18 ]. In those, time from HTX until diagnosis of CP ranges from 3 weeks up to 11 years and incidence of CP in patients after HTX varies from 1.4% (4 of 295) to 3.9% (5 of 127) [ 3 , 4 ].…”

“…The combination of both, pericardial effusion and rejection episode, was seen in one case of CP after HTX in 2008 [ 10 ].…”