Clinical symptoms, pathogenesis and postoperative course of non-specific constrictive pericarditis with dumbbell-shaped heart.

Non-specific chronic constrictive pericarditis is a rare and debilitating chronic infection in developed countries and its rapid diagnosis and treatment has not affected its outcome and complication. A 15-year-old male, well nourished, negative HIV test, and without a history of previous pulmonary tuberculosis, was admitted to our hospital for exertional dyspnea (New York Heart Association, NYHA, functional class II). Our patient had had no pulmonary tuberculosis during childhood, had received anti-tuberculosis treatment, and was referred to our center for further surgical pericardiectomy.