Congenital complete absence of pericardium in a young woman with non-specific symptoms

Antonio Bueno Palomino; Alberto Palomar Estrada; Manuel Crespín Crespín; Daniel García Fuertes

doi:10.1016/j.repc.2013.10.015

Congenital complete absence of pericardium in a young woman with non-specific symptoms

Rev Port Cardiol. 2014 Apr;33(4):249.e1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.repc.2013.10.015. Epub 2014 May 13.

Authors

Antonio Bueno Palomino¹, Alberto Palomar Estrada², Manuel Crespín Crespín³, Daniel García Fuertes³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Santa Bárbara Hospital, Puertollano, Spain. Electronic address: antoniobuenopalomino@gmail.com.
² Department of Radiology, Santa Bárbara Hospital, Puertollano, Spain.
³ Department of Cardiology, Santa Bárbara Hospital, Puertollano, Spain.

PMID: 24830307
DOI: 10.1016/j.repc.2013.10.015

Abstract

Congenital absence of the pericardium is a very rare entity that is usually asymptomatic and hence difficult to diagnose. However, cases of sudden death have been reported in patients with partial pericardial defects (even asymptomatic ones), and such patients require surgical treatment. We report the case of a 17-year-old patient with complete pericardial agenesis (diagnosed by chance during a cardiological consultation) and briefly review the radiological findings of this entity.

Keywords: Absence; Ausência; Image; Imagem; Magnetic resonance; Multislice computed tomography; Pericardium; Pericárdio; Ressonância magnética; Tomografia computadorizada de múltiplos detectores.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Congenital Abnormalities / diagnosis
Female
Humans
Pericardium / abnormalities*