Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Pericardial Disorders
The pericardium is a membrane, or sac, that surrounds your heart. It holds the heart in place and helps it work properly. Problems with the pericardium include:
- Pericarditis - an inflammation of the sac. It can be from a virus or other infection, a heart attack, heart surgery, other medical conditions, injuries, and certain medicines.
- Pericardial effusion - the buildup of fluid in the sac
- Cardiac tamponade - a serious problem in which buildup of fluid in the sac causes problems with the function of the heart
Symptoms of pericardial problems include chest pain, rapid heartbeat, and difficulty breathing. Fever is a common symptom of acute pericarditis. Your doctor may use a physical exam, imaging tests, and heart tests to make a diagnosis. Treatment depends on the cause.
It sits within Blood, Heart and Circulation.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Pericardial Disorders
77 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation After Cardiac Surgery by PericardiotomyChanghai Hospital
- Cardiac Safety Management and Immune Microenvironment Changes After Thoracic Radiotherapy: A Prospective Observational StudyHebei Medical University Fourth Hospital
- Cardiac point-of Care Ultrasound Training Pathway for Emergency Department Advanced Practice ProvidersDuke University
- Pericardial Imaging StudyOttawa Heart Institute Research Corporation
- Prolonged Chest Tube Treatment to Reduce Rates of Atrial Fibrillation Following Cardiac SurgeryRegion Skane
- PERIGON Pivotal TrialMedtronic Cardiac Surgery
Research already completed
- Effect of Left Posterior Pericardiotomy for the Prevention of POAFSeoul National University Hospital
- ProspeCtive, nOn-randoMized, MulticENter Clinical Evaluation of Edwards Pericardial Bioprostheses With a New Tissue Treatment Platform (COMMENCE)Edwards Lifesciences
- Magna® Mitral Pericardial Bioprostheses Post-Approval Study ProtocolEdwards Lifesciences
- Post-market Safety and Performance Outcomes of the VIVERE® Bovine Pericardial Bioprosthetic ValveBraile Biomedica Ind. Com. e Repr. Ltda.
- Pericardial Histopathology and COVID-19 SeropositivitySamsun University
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Heart InflammationNational Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Diagnosis and Tests
- Heart Health Tests: MedlinePlus Health TopicNational Library of Medicine
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Pericardial EffusionNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: PericarditisNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Pericarditis, Pericardial Effusion, Cardiac Tamponade. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Pericardial Disorders, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.