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Chinese Journal of Medical Ultrasound (Electronic Edition) ›› 2025, Vol. 22 ›› Issue (02): 139-145. doi: 10.3877/cma.j.issn.1672-6448.2025.02.007

• Cardiovascular Ultrasound • Previous Articles    

Causes of missed diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis by echocardiography

Kunyue Tan1, Jing Guo1, Zhengkai Zhao2, Qiuyi Cai2, Shuzhen Wang1, Xiaoqiang Gao1, Feng Xiong1,()   

  1. 1. Department of Cardiology,The Third People's Hospital of Chengdu,Chengdu 610031,China
    2. Department of Radiology,The Third People's Hospital of Chengdu,Chengdu 610031,China
  • Online:2025-02-01 Published:2025-04-01
  • Contact: Feng Xiong

Abstract:

Objective

To analyze the causes of missed diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis by echocardiography, and investigate the safety of pericardiectomy in patients with atypical constrictive pericarditis.

Methods

A total of 92 patients with constrictive pericarditis who visited the Third People's Hospital of Chengdu from January 2020 to December 2024 were retrospectively included.All patients underwent echocardiography and CT examination.Based on the first echocardiographic examination, the patients were divided into an accurate diagnosis group(n=82)and a missed diagnosis group(n=10),and the clinical and imaging characteristics of the two groups were compared and analyzed.

Results

Compared to the accurate diagnosis group, the missed diagnosis group had a shorter disease course [9.00(11.00)months vs 2.50(7.90)months, P<0.05] and milder liver function impairment.The accurate diagnosis group exhibited higher proportions of hepatic vein dilation, ascites, and pleural effusion (all P<0.05).The missed diagnosis group demonstrated milder cardiac morphological changes, including the changes of left atrial size [41.00(8.30)mm vs 37.50(4.30)mm, P<0.05], left ventricular size [40.50(4.00)mm vs 45.50(4.30)mm, P<0.05], right atrial size [41.00(7.00)mm vs 36.50(9.00)mm,P<0.05], right atrioventricular angle [(80.71±30.55)° vs(106.50±35.87)°, P<0.05], apical sphericity index [69.00(29.00) vs 84.00(25.00), P<0.05], and left ventricular mass index [(69.79±15.91)g/m2 vs(84.51±13.53)g/m2P<0.05].Both groups had thickened pericardium, but the missed diagnosis group did not have calcifled pericardium.Postoperative mortality [3.7% (3/82) vs 0 (0/10)] and adverse event rates showed no signiflcant difference between the two groups (P>0.05).

Conclusion

Echocardiography exhibits characteristic flndings for constrictive pericarditis, but misdiagnosis occurs in clinical practice.Missed cases are often early-stage patients with pericardial thickening but no calciflcation, subtle cardiac morphological changes, and milder symptoms.Multimodal imaging evaluation combined with clinical history can improve diagnostic accuracy compared with reliance on echocardiography alone.

Key words: Constrictive pericarditis, Echocardiogram, Missed diagnosis

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