PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Russell Fernandes AU - Shravan Nosib AU - Dorothy Thomson AU - Nick Baniak TI - A rare cause of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: primary pericardial mesothelioma masquerading as pericardial constriction AID - 10.1136/bcr-2013-203194 DP - 2014 Mar 20 TA - BMJ Case Reports PG - bcr2013203194 VI - 2014 4099 - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2014/bcr-2013-203194.short 4100 - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2014/bcr-2013-203194.full AB - We present a case of a 30-year-old woman with a history of HIV and hepatitis C who sought medical attention because of severe oedema of the lower limbs and abdomen. CT of the chest showed a thickened pericardium, and cardiac catheterisation demonstrated constrictive physiology. She underwent pericardiectomy, but the procedure was unsuccessful because the pericardium was densely adherent to the myocardium. After consultation with several pathologists, she was diagnosed with primary pericardial mesothelioma (PPM), an exceedingly rare cardiac tumour with a fatal prognosis. She died within 3 months of presentation. The details of the case as well as pertinent literature are reviewed.