Pericardium and Pericardial Disease

Abstract

Transthoracic echocardiography is the first-line imaging modality for diagnosing pericardial diseases like pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade, constrictive pericarditis, pericardial cysts and tumors, and partial and complete absence of the pericardium. The limitations of this imaging are very few, mainly represented by a poor echocardiographic window and the lack of details of the pericardium’s anatomy. Although transthoracic echocardiography is almost always the ideal technique to detect pericardial diseases, many factors in the postoperative period after cardiac surgery may indicate the need of transesophageal echocardiography.