As a result, cardiac function deteriorates.
This condition, which thankfully is quite uncommon, always has serious consequences.
Unfortunately, constrictive pericarditis can hide from detection for a long time.
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This means that there is often a substantial delay in making the correct diagnosis.
Most typically, by the time the diagnosis is made, surgical treatment is the only remaining viable option.
Certain diseases can produce inflammation within the pericardium (a condition calledpericarditis).
This condition is called constrictive pericarditis.
This tends to cause the blood returning to the heart to become backed up within the vascular system.
For this reason people with constrictive pericarditis often develop significant fluid retention and severeedema(swelling).
However, the symptoms become relentlessly worse as time passes and eventually a doctor will hear about them.
Once the diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis is made, surgery to relieve the cardiac constriction is usually required.
In particular, just about any medical problem that can cause acute pericarditis can also result in constrictive pericarditis.
When it occurs, it appears to follow an episode of acute pericarditis.
People with constrictive pericarditis can also develop chest pain, steering doctors toward a diagnosis ofcoronary artery diseasewithangina.
Constrictive pericarditis can also produce fluid retention, which can become quite severe.
This fluid retention often causes edema in the legs and abdomen.
These conditions can be quite difficult to distinguish from constrictive pericarditis.
They includediastolic heart failure,restrictive cardiomyopathy, andcardiac tamponade.
The dilation is triggered by the backing up of the blood returning to the heart.
CT scanningis useful in clinching the diagnosis.
Thickening of the pericardium is easier to detect with a CT scan than with echocardiography.
Also, the CT scan often provides information that can be quite useful in planning surgical treatment.
So, in the majority of people diagnosed with constrictive pericarditis, surgical treatment is recommended right away.
However, in some cases, constrictive pericarditis is diagnosed very early in its course.
However, during this period of time, the patient needs to be carefully monitored for signs of deterioration.
And, if no improvement is seen within two or three months, surgery should be done.
The longer surgery is delayed, the more difficult the treatment is likely to become.
Pericardiectomy is very often a difficult and challenging procedure.
Early diagnosis is the key to successful treatment.
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