Korean Circ J.  2000 Oct;30(10):1281-1284. 10.4070/kcj.2000.30.10.1281.

A Case of Congenital Pericardial Defect Diagnosed by Computed Tomography

• Choi HY
• Lim SW
• Kim JY
• Na BW
• Whang KW
• Jeong EM
• Kim TY
• Cha DH
• Kim JS

• KMID: 1938414
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4070/kcj.2000.30.10.1281

Abstract

Pericardial defect is a rare congenital cardiac disorder. Most patients were asymptomatic but some patients with partial pericardial defect occasionally complain acute symptoms such as angina, syncope, rarely sudden cardiac death. So, differential diagnosis with other ischemic or structural heart disease is crucial in the management of such patients. But there is no consistently successful diagnostic method. In the past, artificial diagnostic pneumothorax was used to document the absence of pericardium. However, it is not easily accepted due to excess morbidity and failure rate. Recently, echocardiography and more often, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging are used to confirm the diagnosis. We experienced a 52 years old male patient with atypical chest pain, who was diagnosed as complete left pericardial defect with computed tomography.

MeSH Terms

Chest Pain
Death, Sudden, Cardiac
Diagnosis
Diagnosis, Differential
Echocardiography
Heart Diseases
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Middle Aged
Pericardium
Pneumothorax
Syncope