Pericardial Disease and Restrictive Myocardial Diseases

Resolution, recurrence, and chyle redistribution after thoracic duct ligation with or without pericardiectomy in dogs with naturally occurring idiopathic chylothorax

“…In Resolution, recurrence, and chyle redistribution after thoracic duct ligation with or without pericardiectomy in dogs with naturally occurring idiopathic chylothorax human patients, it is well recognized that thickening or fibrosis of the pericardium can limit cardiac preload during diastole, resulting in elevated right atrial and central venous pressures, a condition sometimes referred to as constrictive pericardial physiology (CPP). 9 It has been hypothesized that, in dogs with chylothorax, elevated central venous pressure in turn could lead to lymphatic hypertension, resulting in leakage of chyle from the thoracic ducts. 10 While vena cava ligation has been shown to produce chylothorax in approximately 70% of healthy dogs 11 and some dogs with chylothorax have obvious pericardial thickening, fibrosis, or even neoplasia, CPP doesn't appear to be present in all dogs with idiopathic chylothorax (IC),…”