# Echo-Bright Pericardium in Recurrent Idiopathic Pericarditis

## TL;DR

A case of recurrent idiopathic pericarditis showed a bright pericardium on echocardiogram during a follow-up episode.

## Contribution

Reports a rare TTE finding of a bright pericardium during a recurrent episode of idiopathic pericarditis.

## Key findings

- Bright pericardium was observed on TTE during a recurrent episode of idiopathic pericarditis.
- The patient had typical symptoms and elevated inflammatory markers at initial diagnosis.
- The bright pericardium was not prominent during the initial presentation but appeared in the recurrence.

## Abstract

Various radiological findings are observed in acute pericarditis, including pericardial thickening, pericardial effusion, and elevated filling pressures on transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE); thickened pericardium on cardiac CT; edematous pericardium depicted in T2 black-blood/short tau inversion recovery (STIR) images; and enhancement with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiac MRI. However, the presence of a bright pericardium on TTE has seldom been reported. We report a case of acute pericarditis, diagnosed in a young female patient based only on typical chest pain and elevated inflammatory markers. Initially negligible, a bright pericardium was prominent on the recurrent episode after one year of the initial presentation.