A thirty-two-year-old patient diagnosed with constrictive pericarditis arrived at Almazov Centre from Grozny in a very severe condition. This disease requires surgical treatment, i.e. pericardiectomy – the surgical removal of the pericardium (heart’s sac). Not many medical institutions are ready to perform such surgery. The complexity of the intervention is that the pericardium is tightly bound to the heart muscle, and therefore there is a high risk of heart damage during surgery.
Pericarditis is a condition in which the sac-like covering around the heart (pericardium) becomes inflamed. The pericardial layers become rigid and thickened. Over time, the pericardium loses its elasticity and becomes rigid, generating a compressing effect on cardiac chambers and impairing heart contractility.
As the disease progresses, the heart cannot pump effectively. Drugs do not produce significant improvements. If left untreated, complications may lead to death.
The specialists of Almazov Centre, headed by the deputy physician for cardiology Raisa Konoshkova and the deputy chief for surgery Andrey Kotin, made a decision to proceed with an urgent surgery.
Cardiac surgery. Pericardiectomy
Doctors of Cardiovascular Surgery Department no. 3, headed by Dr. Vadim Grebennik performed a subtotal pericardiectomy. The surgery was performed off-pump. Despite the complexity of such procedure, this decision was made because the initial condition of the patient was too severe.
Now the woman feels well and her cardiac contractility increased 2 times. The result of surgery is great.