Case Session 03: Pericardial Disease (2018)-Recurrent chest pain following surgical repair of cor triatriatum in a young teenager

Recurrent chest pain following surgical repair of cor triatriatum in a young teenager

Video Transcription

Video Summary

A 14-year-old obese girl developed recurrent chest and back pain months after surgical repair of a carotid atrium, repeatedly treated as pericarditis. Echocardiography showed a small-to-moderate pericardial effusion with fibrin strands and subtle septal bounce. Cardiac MRI confirmed circumferential pericardial thickening, edema, enhancement, and constrictive physiology with preserved ventricular function. She was diagnosed with constrictive pericarditis and improved on prednisone, colchicine, and ibuprofen. Follow-up MRI showed marked reduction in inflammation, effusion, and septal bounce. The case highlights cardiac MRI’s key role in diagnosing and monitoring constrictive pericarditis and helping avoid pericardiectomy.

Keywords

constrictive pericarditis

cardiac MRI

pericardial effusion

pericardial thickening

prednisone colchicine ibuprofen