science

Pericardial cyst

Pericardial cyst is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pericardial cyst rather than just read about it. In short: A pericardial cyst is an uncommon benign dilatation of the pericardial sac surrounding the heart. It can lead to symptoms by compressing nearby structures, but is usually asymptomatic.

Key takeaways

Pericardial cyst belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pericardial cyst to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pericardial cyst from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A pericardial cyst is an uncommon benign dilatation of the pericardial sac surrounding the heart. It can lead to symptoms by compressing nearby structures, but is usually asymptomatic. Pericardial cysts can be congenital or acquired, and they are typically diagnosed with radiologic imaging. Management of pericardial cysts can include follow-up imaging, percutaneous aspiration, or surgical resection.

Presentation Pericardial cysts most often are asymptomatic, with 50 to 75% of patients experiencing no symptoms. The presentation of symptomatic cysts depends on the cyst location and effects on nearby structures, including the heart, lungs, and esophagus. Symptoms can include chest pain, cough, shortness of breath, palpitations, syncope, recurrent pneumonia, congestive heart failure, difficulty swallowing, and weight loss.

Causes Pericardial cysts can be congenital or acquired, with the majority being congenital. Congenital pericardial cysts happen due to an abnormality in the development of the pericardial sac that creates a bulge which is walled off to form a cyst. Acquired pericardial cysts can be caused by inflammation from surgery, pericarditis, trauma, echinococcosis, tuberculosis, metastasis, or hemodialysis. The inflammation can lead to a walled-off pocket of fluid that is a pericardial cyst.

Diagnosis Since pericardial cysts are often asymptomatic, the most common diagnosis is through incidental finding on a chest x-ray. Differentiation of pericardial cysts from diverticula is usually impossible as both the lesions have similar radiological appearance. The lone differentiating feature is the presence of communicating tract between pericardium and the cyst cavity in the diverticula, unlike the fully walled off pericardial cyst. When patients have symptoms, transthoracic echocardiogram is one of the first tests used to look for a pericardial cyst. CT or MRI may also be used to diagnose pericardial cysts. On CT and MRI a pericardial cyst will commonly appear as a round, fluid-filled structure surrounded by thin walls. Diagnosis of a pericardial cyst can also be made before birth using ultrasound. The differential diagnosis for a suspected pericardial cyst includes a bronchial cyst, pericardial effusion, teratoma, lymphangioma, pericardial fat, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, neuroenteric cyst, and congenital cyst from the primitive foregut.

Management Pericardial cysts that are small and cause no symptoms can be followed with repeat imaging through echocardiogram, CT, or MRI to assess for changes. Pericardial cysts that are large or cause symptoms may be candidates for percutaneous aspiration, ethanol sclerosis, or surgery. Percutaneous aspiration removes the fluid from inside the cyst, and ethanol sclerosis uses the injection of ethanol into the cyst after aspiration to decrease the likelihood of cyst recurrence. Percutaneous aspiration with ethanol sclerosis is typically the first treatment for pericardial cyst that requires management. Surgery can remove a pericardial cyst through a thoracotomy, sternotomy, mediastinoscopy, or video-assisted thoracic surgery. The type of surgery is chosen based on the size and location of the pericardial cyst.

Prognosis With most pericardial cysts having no symptoms, the prognosis is very good. The cysts can resolve without intervention. If percutaneous aspiration is performed, the recurrence rate of pericardial cysts is about 30-33%. Although pericardial cysts are benign, the location of cysts can rarely cause life-threatening emergencies by compressing the heart or lungs.

Epidemiology Pericardial cysts have an incidence of 1 in 100,000. Pericardial cysts make up 6-7% of all mediastinal masses. They can present at any age, but are most commonly diagnosed between the third and fifth decade of life. Females and males have approximately equal incidences of pericardial cysts.

History Pericardial cysts were first reported on during autopsies in the 19th century by pathologists. As the field of radiology progressed, pericardial cysts could be identified in living patients. In 1931, the first surgical resection of a pericardial cyst was performed by Otto Pickhardt at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York using a thoracoscopy. In 1943, Greenfield and his colleagues coined the term "spring water cysts" for pericardial cysts since the cysts contain clear fluid.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pericardial cyst

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pericardial cyst claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pericardial cyst before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pericardial cyst ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pericardial cyst

In research: Pericardial cyst appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pericardial cyst in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pericardial cyst is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cysts, Pericardial disorders, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pericardial cyst outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pericardial cyst in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pericardial cyst means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pericardial cyst out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pericardial cyst in simple terms?

A pericardial cyst is an uncommon benign dilatation of the pericardial sac surrounding the heart. It can lead to symptoms by compressing nearby structures, but is usually asymptomatic.

Why does Pericardial cyst matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pericardial cyst?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pericardial cyst.