Abstract
Patients with a complete absence of pericardium require no intervention as they are mostly asymptomatic. Due to the risk of herniation, patients with partial absence of pericardium tend to present with symptoms and may benefit from treatment. We report a case of an elderly patient who presented for severe colitis and was incidentally found to have a partial absence of the pericardium on the right side of the heart.
Highlights
The pericardium is a thin layer that contains the heart and covers its outer surface
Patients with a complete absence of pericardium require no treatment, while patients with a partial absence of pericardium are at risk for herniation, and treatment with pericardial reconstruction is reasonable for this group [4]
The diagnosis can be suspected on echocardiography with images on the parasternal long-axis view may show the right ventricle to be more prominent, the heart may be shifted toward the left, which will result in a paradoxical septum [10]
Summary
The pericardium is a thin layer that contains the heart and covers its outer surface. A 70-year-old male long-time diabetic patient presented for severe colitis, hyperglycemia, and chronic pancreatitis His high glucose level was well treated with insulin. A CT scan of the abdomen performed on admission for investigation of chronic pancreatitis was able to detect few cuts from the chest area allowing for the evaluation of a part of the heart. It confirmed the echocardiographic findings of the pericardial absence of the right side of the heart by showing clear heart borders, unlike the aspect seen covering the left heart (Figures 6, 7). The scan showed diffuse gastric bowel wall thickening compatible with gastro-entero-colitis
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