The diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis (CP) continues to be a challenge in the modern era. Understanding the pathophysiology and integrating the results of invasive and non-invasive techniques are important in the differential diagnosis of CP and e.g. restrictive cardiomyopathy. New echocardiographic techniques such as tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and 2D-speckle tracking, dual-source CT (computed tomographic imaging) and especially tagged cine-MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) with the analysis of phase contrast angiography sequences are promising novel approaches. Pericardiectomy in experienced centers with complete decortication (if technically feasible) is the treatment of choice for CP and it results in symptomatic relief in most patients. However, some patients may not benefit from pericardiectomy and this may be due to myocardial compliance abnormalities, myocardial atrophy after prolonged constriction, residual constriction or other myocardial processes. An important predictor of long-term outcome after pericardiectomy is the etiology of the pericardial disease. The overall mortality in the current literature is nearly 5-6%. Survival with post-surgical CP is worse than with idiopathic CP, but significantly better than with post-radiation CP.

Long-term medication with prednisolone resulted in a shorter duration of an atracurium-induced neuromuscular block in patients with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. The presence of the inflammatory bowel disease did not influence the time course of the neuromuscular block.

1. Vascular reactivity and noradrenaline overflow were studied in Tyrode solution-perfused kidneys from young (6 weeks) normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive (SH) rats. 2. The vasoconstrictor response to nerve stimulation was greater in the kidneys from young SH rats than in those from young control rats. 3. Nerve stimulation evoked a greater release of noradrenaline in the kidneys from young SH rats than in those from normotensive animals. 4. The results demonstrate that the renal sympathetic nerves release more noradrenaline than normal in the young SH rats, which could be an important factor in causing hypertension.

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