CONSTRICTIVE-EFFUSIVE PERICARDITIS

Course overview

CONSTRICTIVE PERICARDITIS INVOLVES SCARRING AND LOSS OF ELASTICITY OF THE PERICARDIUM SURROUNDING THE HEART, LEADING TO IMPAIRED FILLING. EFFUSIVE-CONSTRICTIVE PERICARDITIS (ECP) IS A LESS COMMON SYNDROME INVOLVING BOTH CONSTRICTION OF THE VISCERAL PERICARDIUM AND AN EFFUSION CAUSING A TAMPONADE-LIKE EFFECT ON THE HEART. THE ETIOLOGY IS SIMILAR TO THAT OF CONSTRICTIVE PERICARDITIS, AS BOTH CONDITIONS CAN BE CAUSED BY CARDIAC SURGERY AND TUBERCULOSIS. THE SYMPTOMS OF THIS SYNDROME MIMIC THOSE OF HEART FAILURE AND VOLUME OVERLOAD. THIS CONDITION IS CHRONIC, AND TREATMENT IS MOSTLY SURGICAL, ALTHOUGH, IN A SUBSET OF PATIENTS, TREATMENT OF THE UNDERLYING CAUSE MAY REVERSE BOTH THE EFFUSION AND THE CONSTRICTION. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE CAUSES, EVALUATION, AND MANAGEMENT OF EFFUSIVE CONSTRICTIVE PERICARDITIS AND HIGHLIGHTS THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM'S ROLE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF AFFECTED PATIENTS.