title: Constrictive pericarditis after surgical closure of atrial septal defect in a child.
abstract: Constrictive pericarditis following an open cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease is very rarely encountered in children. We report a case of constrictive pericarditis, diagnosed at 22 months after surgical closure of an atrial septal defect, in a 14-year-old boy who presented postpericardiotomy syndrome. Cardiac catheterization revealed uniformity of elevated diastolic pressures in all chambers, prominent x and y descents in the right atrial pressure tracing, and typical "dip and plateau" contour of ventricular end-diastolic pressures. Pericardiectomy improved the hemodynamic status of the patient. He remains symptom-free during the follow-up period of 12 months.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Chonnam National University Medical School, Kwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D006344:Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010494:Pericarditis, Constrictive / Q000209:etiology*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology*