Atrial septal motion in effusive--constrictive pericarditis: transesophageal echocardiographic study and hemodynamic correlation.

Transesophageal echocardiography was performed in 7 patients with effusive-constrictive pericarditis to analyze atrial septal motion(ASM). In 3 patients, the ASM was found to be normal with atrial septum (AS) moving toward the right atrium from ventricular mid-systole to early-diastole and toward the left atrium from mid-diastole to early-systole. Respiration had little effect on the ASM. In 2 patients, a brisk inversion of ASM toward the left atrium at ventricular early-to-mid systole was noted during inspiration. In the other 2 patients, a sustained ASM toward the left atrium during ventricular systole was found. In 4 of these 7 patients, hemodynamic studies were performed simultaneously with the transesophageal echocardiography. The ASM reflected the pressure gradient between the left atrium (as measured by pulmonary arterial wedge pressure) and the right atrium. The augmented ASM toward the left atrium occurred as left atrial pressure decreased markedly during inspiration. In conclusion, the ASM in patients with effusive-constrictive pericarditis showed 3 patterns: normal, sustained systolic motion toward the left atrium and a brisk systolic displacement toward the left atrium during inspiration. The ASM reflects changes in the interatrial pressure gradient.