Constrictive pericarditis in children.

We observed five cases of constrictive pericarditis (CP) during a 12-year period, and studied the clinical findings, usual causes, and hemodynamic findings. There are two variants of CP: a chronic form, which is usually of unknown cause, and a rapidly developing form, which follows an attack of effusive pericarditis. A high index of suspicion is necessary to establish the diagnosis of CP both in children with a prolonged course of ascites and failure to thrive and in children with effusive, usually purulent, pericarditis. Although CP is rare in childhood, it should be easily recognized and curative surgical therapy should be rapidly initiated.