Constrictive pericarditis in the twenty-first century: An old disease revisited

Core Tip

Core Tip: constrictive pericarditis (CP) is characterized by pericardial thickening and fibrosis, resulting in impaired diastolic relaxation and progressive right-sided heart failure. Diagnosis is often delayed because of overlapping features with other causes of heart failure and chronic liver disease. Advances in noninvasive multimodality imaging, particularly transthoracic echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance, and cardiac computed tomography, have improved diagnostic accuracy. Management has evolved toward a phenotype-based approach, with anti-inflammatory therapy for inflammatory CP and radial pericardiectomy remaining the only potentially curative treatment for non-inflammatory, refractory, or calcified disease.