Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jan 20;129(2):154-61.
doi: 10.4103/0366-6999.173463.

Effect of Right Heart Systolic Function on Outcomes in Patients with Constrictive Pericarditis Undergoing Pericardiectomy

Xue Lin, Rui-Yi Xu, Jian-Zhou Liu, Wei Chen, Lian-Feng Chen, Peng-Hua Yang, Li-Gang Fang  1
Affiliations

Effect of Right Heart Systolic Function on Outcomes in Patients with Constrictive Pericarditis Undergoing Pericardiectomy

Xue Lin et al. Chin Med J (Engl). .

Abstract

Background: To determine the influence of right ventricular function in patients with constrictive pericarditis (CP) undergoing surgery and to compare the outcomes of patients who received surgery with those managed medically.

Methods: Patients with the diagnosis of CP and healthy volunteers were recruited from January 2006 to November 2011. Patients with CP chose to either receive pericardiectomy or medical management. Echocardiographic measurements were performed to evaluate heart function, and survival was recorded.

Results: A total of 58 patients with CP (36 received pericardiectomy, 22 managed medically), and 43 healthy volunteers were included. CP patients who received surgery had a higher survival rate than those managed medically (P = 0.003), and higher survival was also seen in the subgroup of CP patients with severely impaired right systolic function. Albumin level, left ventricular end-diastolic dimension, and tricuspid regurgitation velocity were associated with survival in CP patients who received surgery.

Conclusions: Preoperative right heart function does not affect surgical outcomes. Patients with severely impaired preoperative right systolic function obtain a greater survival advantage with surgery than with medical treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pericardiectomy in patients with constrictive pericarditis. (a) A patient with constrictive pericarditis undergoing pericardiectiomy. *Indicating thick pericardium. (b) Preoperation echocardiography shows enlarged atriums, thick pericardium (as indicated by *) and pericardial effusion (indicated by red arrow). (c) Postoperation echocardiography shows normal atrium without pericardial effusion.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Transient right heart function change before and after operation. (a) Shows increased right ventricle volume (ml), right ventricle diameter (mm) and Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (mm) 1 month after operation. (b) Increasing S’ (cm/s), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (mm), left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (mm), diameter of right heart (mm) and diastolic right heart volume (ml) in a patient followed up for 3 years after operation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bertog SC, Thambidorai SK, Parakh K, Schoenhagen P, Ozduran V, Houghtaling PL, et al. Constrictive pericarditis: Etiology and cause-specific survival after pericardiectomy. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2004;43:1445–52. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2003.11.048. - PubMed
    1. Brockington GM, Zebede J, Pandian NG. Constrictive pericarditis. Cardiol Clin. 1990;8:645–61. - PubMed
    1. Cameron J, Oesterle SN, Baldwin JC, Hancock EW. The etiologic spectrum of constrictive pericarditis. Am Heart J. 1987;113(2 Pt 1):354–60. doi: 10.1016/0002-8703(87)90278-X. - PubMed
    1. Ling LH, Oh JK, Schaff HV, Danielson GK, Mahoney DW, Seward JB, et al. Constrictive pericarditis in the modern era: Evolving clinical spectrum and impact on outcome after pericardiectomy. Circulation. 1999;100:1380–6. doi: 10.1161/01.CIR.100.13.1380. - PubMed
    1. Chowdhury UK, Subramaniam GK, Kumar AS, Airan B, Singh R, Talwar S, et al. Pericardiectomy for constrictive pericarditis: A clinical, echocardiographic, and hemodynamic evaluation of two surgical techniques. Ann Thorac Surg. 2006;81:522–9. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2005.08.009. - PubMed