Acute Fibrinous Pericarditis Assessed With Magnetic Resonance Imaging

A 55-year-old woman was admitted to our institution because of progressive right heart failure and purulent pericardial effusion. Echocardiography, limited by poor image quality, revealed a small (14 mm in systole), hemodynamically insignificant pericardial effusion. Magnetic resonance cine images showed reduced volumes of both ventricles (left ventricle, 62 mL; right ventricle, 58 mL in end diastole) and normal ejection fraction but paradoxical movement of the atrial and ventricular septum (Movie). The pericardium was thickened (maximum thickness 8 mm), and …