Idiopathic Chronic Constrictive Pericarditis Secondary to Calcified Pericardial Haematoma

Abstract

Pericardial haematoma is a rare entity that is thought to arise acutely as a consequence of blunt chest wall injury. We report our experience with a chronic form of presentation in which calcified pericardial haematoma presented as a mass causing chronic constrictive pericarditis symptoms in a patient with no prior history of chest wall injury. The ability to recognize such a rare occurrence is vital as surgery will often be curative.