Constrictive pericarditis in a 19-month-old child

Abstract

We report a case of chronic nonspecific constrictive pericarditis with myocardial involvement in a 19-month-old infant. The patient underwent total pericardiectomy and had irreversible hemodynamic instability. Constrictive pericarditis is rare in childhood. It may follow several processes, most frequently an infectious disease. The natural course of the disease consists of progressive myocardial dysfunction with atrioventricular valvular involvement. When diagnosis is established early in the course of the disease and treatment started immediately, the evolution is favorable in most instances.