Advanced cross-sectional imaging techniques like CT and CMR are essential for the non-invasive diagnosis of rare congenital right pericardial defects, guiding management and preventing complications.
Though congenital pericardial absence is often asymptomatic, complications can be life threatening. To date, few short case reports, primarily from the pre-CT and MR era, describe congenital absence of the right pericardium. We present a more comprehensive discussion of the embryologic derangements causing such defects and offer an up-to-date review of characteristic radiologic findings. Recognition of characteristic imaging findings of congenital pericardial absence is crucial in guiding diagnosis and management.
Koo et al. (2015) studied this question.