Clinical features and prognosis of surgically proven constrictive pericarditis after orthotopic heart transplantation

J Heart Lung Transplant. 2021 Apr;40(4):241-246. doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2020.12.010. Epub 2021 Jan 12.

Abstract

Constrictive pericarditis (CP) results in pericardial non-compliance and diastolic dysfunction. Definitive treatment is pericardiectomy, but data on CP after orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) are limited. Accordingly, a retrospective review of 8 cases of surgically proven CP after OHT undergoing pericardiectomy was conducted. In this series, all patients were male. The median time to symptomatic CP after OHT was 1.7 years (range: 0.8-18.1 years). The echocardiographic assessment was diagnostic for CP in 3 cases (38%). Cross-sectional imaging was performed in 6 cases, revealing ≥ mild pericardial thickening in all. A total of 6 patients (75%) underwent cardiac catheterization, which revealed CP in 5 (83%). Post-pericardiectomy 30-day mortality was 13% (1 patient). The median survival after pericardiectomy was 2.3 years (range: 18 days-14.6 years) and 5-year survival was 29%. Overall, CP after OHT represents a subset of patients with CP with high morbidity and mortality, and multimodality assessment is essential for its diagnosis. Despite a relatively low surgical mortality, long-term survival is poor.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Echocardiography, Doppler
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Forecasting*
  • Heart Transplantation / adverse effects*
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Minnesota / epidemiology
  • Pericardiectomy / methods*
  • Pericarditis, Constrictive / diagnosis*
  • Pericarditis, Constrictive / etiology
  • Pericarditis, Constrictive / surgery
  • Postoperative Complications / epidemiology*
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Survival Rate / trends
  • Young Adult