AIMS The objective of this study was to investigate inflammatory markers of the postpericardiotomy syndrome (PPS) and to determine individuals prone to develop the PPS. METHODS AND RESULTS The study included 75 patients with a stable coronary disease that had underwent coronary artery bypass surgery. Serum samples were collected prior to the surgery and on the 5th day after the operation, to ...

Arrhythmia/Electrophysiology Colchicine Reduces Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation: Results of the Colchicine for the Prevention of the Postpericardiotomy Syndrome (COPPS) Atrial Fibrillation Substudy Massimo Imazio, MD; Antonio Brucato, MD; Paolo Ferrazzi, MD; Maria Elena Rovere, MD; Anna Gandino, MD; Roberto Cemin, MD; Stefania Ferrua, MD; Riccardo Belli, MD; Silvia Maestroni, MD; Caterina Sim...

Constrictive pericarditis following an open cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease is very rarely encountered in children. We report a case of constrictive pericarditis, diagnosed at 22 months after surgical closure of an atrial septal defect, in a 14-year-old boy who presented postpericardiotomy syndrome. Cardiac catheterization revealed uniformity of elevated diastolic pressures in all ...

Three cases are reported that describe acute pulmonary edema as an early manifestation of a postpericardiotomy or postmyocardial infarction syndrome. Each of these cases occurred in the presence of good left ventricular function. The cases suggest this syndrome occurs in immunologically primed patients who have had prior cardiac injury resulting in readily available heart antibody. The first re...

An 81-year-old man presented with a 10-day history of progressively worsening dyspnea on exertion and decreased exercise tolerance 2 months after coronary artery bypass surgery for triple-vessel coronary artery disease; his pericardium was not closed at that time. Physical examination revealed blood pressure of 112/64 mm Hg, heart rate of 102 bpm, distant heart sounds, bilaterally decreased bre...