Key result
Multi-modality imaging, including cardiac MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT, helps identify active pericardial inflammation and predict which patients with transient constrictive pericarditis may respond to medical therapy.
Why the study?
Although constrictive pericarditis has long been considered a surgical disease, a subset of patients experience transient constriction, necessitating evaluation of disease duration and potential for reversal to determine appropriate treatment.
Multi-modality imaging is essential in constrictive pericarditis to differentiate chronic surgical disease from transient, medically treatable inflammation.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May support medical management in transient constriction; leaves open optimal imaging protocols pending prospective validation.
Constrictive pericarditis is a disease of the pericardium resulting from chronic inflammation and/or scar responsible for a clinical feature of left and right ventricular failure. Although constrictive pericarditis has long been considered a surgical disease, a subset of patients experience reversibility of pericardial inflammation, a condition referred to as "transient constriction." Thus, after establishing the diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis, it is essential to evaluate the duration and potential for reversal to determine an appropriate treatment plan. Evidence of chronic disease can be acquired from the patient's clinical features and cardiac imaging, especially calcifications seen on computed tomography and chest X-ray. Transient constrictive pericarditis should be considered in cases without evidence of chronic disease, as active inflammation of the pericardium can be treated medically. Resolution of constrictive physiology can be evaluated using serial transthoracic 2-D Doppler echocardiography along with clinical examination. The potential for reversibility may also be assessed with multi-modality cardiac imaging to look for evidence of late enhancement on cardiac magnetic resonance and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT imaging.
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Chang et al. (2019) conducted a review in Constrictive pericarditis. Multi-modality imaging (CMR, 18F-FDG PET/CT) and anti-inflammatory therapy was evaluated. Multi-modality imaging, including cardiac MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT, helps identify active pericardial inflammation and predict which patients with transient constrictive pericarditis may respond to medical therapy.
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