Mitral regurgitation following pericardiectomy for constrictive pericarditis.

Pericardiectomy is the only definitive treatment option for patients with constrictive pericarditis. We present the case of a 67-year-old man who developed new moderate to severe mitral regurgitation following phrenic nerve-to-phrenic nerve pericardiectomy for constrictive pericarditis. The severity of the regurgitation was followed up by serial echocardiography which showed improvement 19 days later and complete resolution at 9 months after surgery.

VO2@RER1.0: a novel submaximal cardiopulmonary exercise index.

Maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) is the "gold standard" by which to assess functional capacity; however, it is effort dependent. VO2@RER1.0 is defined when VO2 = VCO2.