Early constrictive pericarditis and anaemia developed in a 52 year old man after he had an inferior wall myocardial infarction complicated by Dressler's syndrome. Total pericardiectomy at the time of coronary artery bypass surgery resulted in complete resolution of signs and symptoms.

Cardiac lipomatous hypertrophy is an unusual disorder that typically affects the interatrial septum. We report a case in which large subpericardial deposits of fat were initially mistaken for a pericardial effusion and the subsequent clinical picture resembled tamponade. The patient improved following a pericardiectomy.

The clinical histories of two patients with angiosarcoma of the pericardium are described. Both were previously well young men who presented with cardiac tamponade caused by haemorrhagic pericardial effusions. If a pericardiectomy is undertaken for diagnosis, wide excision of the pericardium is recommended. This will provide a large specimen for histological examination and may prevent subseque...

CONSTRICTIVE PERICARDITIS is an uncommon disorder with a wide varietv of manifestations. This communication documents two patients who presented with features of a cardiac murmur indicative of tricuspid valve stenosis. In both, exploratory surgery revealed a large cyst within scarred pericardium, narrowing the tricuspid valve. The first patient had generalized constrictive pericarditis. The sec...

A 34 year old woman with a history of self-mutilation developed severe constrictive pericarditis with sterile, calcified intrapericardial abscess cavities as a result of inserting sewing needles into her chest seven years previously. After pericardiectomy she made a good recovery.

A 42 year old man admitted with effusive-constrictive pericarditis had diastolic dysfunction and pericardial thickening. Pericardiectomy was performed because of uncontrolled heart failure. The Epstein-Barr viral IgG antibody titre was exceptionally high. The EB viral genome was demonstrated in the resected pericardium by polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridisation. EB viral pericarditi...

A 57-year-old man, who had undergone subtotal esophagectomy and bowel reconstruction with a stomach roll located in the retrosternal space 4 years before, developed pneumopericardium (Fig. 1) due to ulcer perforation (Fig. 2). He is alive and well 8 years after partial gastrectomy and pericardial drainage followed by pericardiectomy for secondary constrictive pericarditis. European Journal of C...