Key result
Conservative management improves constrictive pericarditis secondary to epicardial lipomatosis in two case reports.
Why the study?
Epicardial lipomatosis is a rare and potentially under-recognized cause of constrictive pericarditis with limited literature available.
Case Report (n=2)
No
Epicardial lipomatosis is a rare cause of constrictive pericarditis that can mimic fibrinous pericardial effusion on echocardiography and can be successfully identified with CT/CMR and managed with conservative medical therapy in high-surgical-risk patients.
Hypothesis-generating for conservative management of rare epicardial lipomatosis constrictive pericarditis; prospective studies needed before broader adoption.
Epicardial lipomatosis is a rare cause of constrictive pericarditis. There is a paucity of literature on the condition, and it is possible that it may be missed in contemporary clinical practice. Herein, we report two patients with epicardial lipomatosis who presented with traditional cardiovascular risk factors. After an initial suspicion of pericardial effusion, both patients underwent multimodality imaging with transthoracic echocardiography, computed tomography, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, which demonstrated diffuse epicardial fat. Conservative management was pursued in both cases with optimization of heart failure therapy and the dialysis strategy, resulting in clinical improvement.
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Raval et al. (2026) conducted a case report in Epicardial lipomatosis and constrictive pericarditis (n=2). Conservative management was evaluated. Conservative management, including optimization of heart failure therapy and dialysis strategy, resulted in clinical improvement in two elderly women with epicardial lipomatosis-induced constrictive pericarditis.
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