Pericardial diseases

Abstract

Pericardial disease can be an important cause of morbidity and mortality in a clinical cardiology practice. However, patients with pericardial disease are not always encountered on a daily basis, and because pericardial disease can mimic other diseases, such as cardiovascular, pulmonary and pleural processes a firm diagnosis may be difficult. Frequently, pericardial involvement can be the initial presentation of a systemic disease process. Disorders of the pericardium can also have a variety of etiologies, including congenital malformations along with infectious, infarction-related, metabolic, autoimmune, traumatic, neoplastic, and idiopathic processes. Additionally, accurate diagnosis of a pericardial disorder may require the use of multiple noninvasive tests or a noninvasive test coupled with an invasive study.