Pericardial Stripping for Constrictive Pericarditis

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Pericardial Stripping for Constrictive Pericarditis
The definitive treatment for constrictive pericarditis is pericardial stripping, which is a surgical procedure where the entire pericardium is peeled away from the heart. This may be effective in up to 50% of patients. This procedure has significant risk involved, since the thickened pericardium is often adherent to the myocardium and coronary arteries.

In patients who have undergone coronary artery bypass surgery with pericardial sparing, there is danger of tearing a bypass graft while removing the pericardium. If any pericardium is not removed, it is possible for bands of pericardium to cause localized constriction which may cause symptoms and signs consistent with constriction.

Source

 * National Guideline Clearinghouse

Acknowledgements
The content on this page was first contributed by C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D.

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Suggested Links and Web Resources

 * Pericarditis - Mayo Clinic series
 * Pericarditis - cardiologychannel.com
 * Pericarditis information from Seattle Children's Hospital Heart Center
 * Pulsus paradoxus - Journal of Postgraduate Medicine
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pericarditis
 * SeeMyHeart - Patient Information on Echocardiograms (Heart Ultrasounds)
 * American Society of Echocardiography
 * Stress Test with Echocardiography from Angioplasty.Org
 * Echocardiography information from Children's Hospital Heart Center, Seattle.
 * Coronary heart disease And echocardiography
 * Echocardiography Resources Simple echocardiography tutorials
 * Atlas of Echocardiography Echocardiography Database
 * E-chocardiography Internet Journal of Cardiac Ultrasound
 * Echobasics Basic introduction to echocardiography - German/Spanish English planned for 2007
 * Echocardiography Basic information about echocardiography - HealthwoRx

For Patients

 * Pericarditis

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