Fig. 1. A chest computed tomography showed a 5.5 4.5 cm sized, homogeneous, non-enhancing cystic mass with a well-defined border, situated beside the left pericardium superior to the diaphragm (A, B). Thoracoscopic view of the cyst, located at the left cardiophrenic angle which was adherent to the diaphragm and pericardium anterior to the phrenic nerve. The wall was smooth and somewhat transpar...

X' On opening the chest the right lung was found most prominent and it was covering the heart and extending over to the left side of the chest. The left lung was not evident as the pericardium was full of blood and most of the lower part of the cavity of the left side of the chest was occupied by the pericardium. On opening the pericardium and removing the blood I found that the heart was ruptu...

Cardiac tamponade is the phenomenon of hemodynamic compromise caused by a pericardial effusion. Following a myocardial infarction, the most common causes of pericardial fluid include early pericarditis, Dressler's syndrome, and hemopericardium secondary to a free wall rupture. On transthoracic echocardiography, pericardial fluid appears as an echo-free space in between the visceral and parietal...

The patient presented by Dr Patricia Campbell1 from the Advanced Heart Disease Section of Brigham and Women’s Hospital exemplifies challenges that surround the possible diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis. Constrictive pericarditis is a pericardial compressive syndrome due to fibrosis, scarring, and occasionally calcification of the pericardium. The primary pathophysiological consequence is ...

Churg Strauss syndrome (CSS) may lead to cardiac involvement in up to 60% of patients. The myocardium, coronary vasculature, valves and pericardium may be affected. This results in significant morbidity and mortality, accounting for 48% of deaths due to CSS. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is used to evaluate cardiac structure and function, and is able to evaluate myocardial perfusion ...

A Portuguese researcher group has reported long term effects on the internal organs through prolonged exposure to LFN, defined as noise < 500 Hz and > 90 dB (Castelo Branco & Alves-Pereira 2004), and have grouped the changes and symptoms in a syndrome called Vibro-Acoustic-Disease (VAD). Their main finding is proliferation of connective tissue, i.e. thickening of the pericardium, but changes of...

A gastropericardial fistula, defined as penetration of a gastric lesion into the pericardium, is a rare occurrence. Such a fistula is usually associated with a huge ulcer in the gastric fundus, an ulcer within a hiatus hernia, a history of esophagogastric surgery, the concurrent use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), or Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. The patient in this case presen...

Multifocal fibrosclerosis is a rare syndrome of unknown cause that is characterized by fibrosis involving multiple organ systems. Definitive diagnosis can only be made based on biopsy findings. In this case, the biopsy specimen of the patient demonstrates pulmonary hyalinated granuloma or sclerosing mediastinitis. There are few reports of multiple fibrosclerosis with heart failure. Here, we rep...

The pentalogy of Cantrell (POC) is a rare syndrome with an incidence of 5.5 per 1 million live births with an unknown etiology. POC includes deficiency of the anterior diaphragm, defect in the supraumbilical abdominal wall in the midline and in the diaphragmatic pericardium, and also of the lower sternum and intracardiac abnormality. It has been suggested that the risk of birth defects are slig...

Because of uncertainty existing in respect to the etiologic factors in certain cases of constrictive pericarditis, an analysis of 25 proven cases and of additional series from the literature was conducted. It was evident that a fairly consistent clinical syndrome developed, but the factor of myocardial insufficiency deserves as much consideration as actual constriction by the pericardium. The s...