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. 2020 Oct-Dec;13(4):373-374.
doi: 10.4103/apc.APC_137_20. Epub 2020 Sep 17.

Congenital absence of pericardium

Rahul Nikam  1 , Jordan Rapp  2 , Ashrith Kandula  1 , Snigdha Puram  1 , David Saul  1
Affiliations

Congenital absence of pericardium

Rahul Nikam et al. Ann Pediatr Cardiol. 2020 Oct-Dec.

Abstract

A 16-year-old girl presented to the emergency department with orthopnea and exercise intolerance for 1 week. Electrocardiogram at that time showed rightward deviation of the cardiac axis, with nonspecific T-wave inversion in the lateral precordial leads and flattening in the inferior leads. She was discharged from the emergency department with cardiology follow-up. Subsequent echocardiogram demonstrated that "the heart is in a funny position in the chest," and computed tomography of the chest was requested to evaluate for a mediastinal mass causing leftward displacement of the heart.

Keywords: Absent pericardium; congenital; levoposition.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scout image from computed tomography chest demonstrates obscuration of right heart border by the spine due to levoposition of the heart
Figure 2
Figure 2
Parasternal long-axis transthoracic echocardiogram image showing posteriorly directed apex and unusual imaging windows
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a-c) Two axial and one coronal images from contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography demonstrate interposition of lung tissue in areas of absent pericardium between the aorta and pulmonary artery (straight arrows) and marked levoposition of the cardiac silhouette (curved arrows)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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