Constrictive pericarditis. Early experience in 12 patients in light of modern cardiology.

The last several decades have witnessed major advances in the understanding and management of constrictive pericarditis. The aim of the present study was to compare the diagnosis, treatment and outcome of constrictive pericarditis of 40 years ago to today. The study population consisted of 12 patients with a diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis who presented at the Institute of Cardiology of Beilinson Hospital, from 1961 to 1970. Their main physical findings, electrocardiographic and chest X-ray changes, and hemodynamic study results are discussed in relation to the surgical outcome of patients with constrictive pericarditis today. New noninvasive imaging modalities, such as M mode, two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging are presented, and their advantages and disadvantages in the diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis and its differentiation from restrictive cardiomyopathy are explained.