18F-FDG PET/CT is a valuable imaging modality for identifying malignant etiologies, such as thymic carcinoma, in patients presenting with constrictive pericarditis.
Thymic carcinoma may mimic constrictive pericarditis; leaves open malignancy in the differential but remains hypothesis-generating.
Constrictive pericarditis refers to focal or global thickening of pericardium causing impedance to diastolic filling and increased systemic venous pressure. We discuss a case of thymic carcinoma presenting as constrictive pericarditis. A 70-year-old man experiencing shortness of breath underwent Doppler echocardiography for further evaluation. Echocardiography was suggestive of thickened nodular pericardium with minimal pericardial effusion, and Doppler features were suggestive of constrictive pericarditis. F-FDG PET/CT done to exclude malignancy reveals locally advanced thymic carcinoma spreading along the pericardial sheath with metabolically active rib metastases.
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Kousik et al. (2020) studied this question.
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