Case 2-1994: A 31-Year-Old Man With A Previous Pericardiectomy for Constrictive Pericarditis and Mitral Regurgitation

Presentation of Case A 31-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of severe mitral regurgitation with congestive failure. He was well until the age of 16 years, when dyspnea and a cough developed, with a bout of syncope. A diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis was made, and a pericardiectomy was performed; a tuberculin skin test was reported to be negative. Thereafter the patient felt well until three years before entry, when he began to experience brief bouts of atrial fibrillation and was told that he had a murmur. Two years before admission a prolonged episode of atrial fibrillation was accompanied…