A case report of post coronary artery bypass grafting Dressler’s syndrome presenting with cardiac tamponade
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20263567Keywords:
Dressler’s syndrome, Post cardiotomy injury syndrome, Cardiac tamponade, Post CABGAbstract
Dressler’s syndrome is an inflammatory complication following myocardial injury or cardiac surgery that may rarely progress to clinically significant pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade. We report a case of a patient who developed delayed symptomatic pericardial effusion following coronary artery bypass grafting, with echocardiography demonstrating tamponade physiology requiring urgent pericardiocentesis and drainage. The patient was subsequently managed with anti-inflammatory therapy with clinical and echocardiographic improvement, highlighting the importance of recognizing PPS as a potentially life-threatening cause of delayed post- coronary artery bypass grafting pericardial effusion.
References
Fletcher C, Ostergaard C, Menzies R. Dressler syndrome after minimally invasive coronary artery bypass surgery. J Am Board Fam Pract. 2004;17(3):230-2.
Faraj R, Dib H, Abdelali M, Zarzur J, Cherti M. Post-cardiac injury syndrome due to iatrogenic injury successfully managed medically: a case report. J Med Case Rep. 2023;17:277:1-5.
Lee JV, Emmanuela M, Lee JB, Damay VA. Cardiac tamponade in post-CABG surgery patient: a case report of post-pericardiotomy syndrome. Cardiovasc Cardiometab J. 2025;6(2):118-24.
Hertzeanu H, Almog C, Algom M. Cardiac tamponade in Dressler's syndrome: case report. Cardiology. 1983;70(1):31-6.
Huang MS, Su YH, Chen JY. Post cardiac injury syndrome successfully treated with medications: a report of two cases. BMC Cardiovasc Disord. 2021;21(1):394.
Wilk M, Patela K, Krupka D, Ptak J, Malczyk A. Dressler’s syndrome as a late complication of myocardial infarction: a case report. Cureus. 2024;16(9):e69583.
Ginanjar E, Herdita T. Persistent ST-segment elevation after repeated percutaneous coronary intervention: a Dressler syndrome? Acta Med Indones. 2022;54(4):607-13.
Manral I, Sharma S, Manral R, Krishnan A, Verma D, Radhakrishna KV. Going beyond the surface: a case report of Dressler’s syndrome. J Forensic Med Toxicol. 2025;42(2):142-5.
Karim, Mounaouir, Nachid Mohammed, Eljazouli Ali, Benhar Ismail, Meryem Haboub, Salim Arous, Ghali Mohamed Bennouna, Abdenasser Drighil, and Habbal Rachida. 2023. “Case Report of Dressler Syndrome and Left Ventricular Aneurysm in a 47-Year-Old Male With Diabetes. Cardiol Angiol Int J. 2023;12 (4):280-4.
Patel ZK, Shah MS, Bharucha R, Benz M. Post-cardiac Injury Syndrome Following Permanent Dual-Chamber Pacemaker Implantation. Cureus. 2022;14(1):e21737.
Adler Y, Charron P, Imazio M, Badano L, Barón-Esquivias G, Bogaert J, et al. 2015 ESC guidelines for the diagnosis and management of pericardial diseases: the Task Force for the Diagnosis and Management of Pericardial Diseases of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), endorsed by the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS). Eur Heart J. 2015;36(42):2921-64.
Imazio M, Hoit BD. Post-cardiac injury syndromes: an emerging cause of pericardial diseases. Int J Cardiol. 2013;168(2):648-52.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Jyotsna Mulamoottil Jose, Anil Kumar Asokan, Harikrishnan Somasekharan, Sreedhanya Sreehari, Gowtham Kishore Chittathuparambil, Aby Eapen Chandapillai, Lekshmi Rajeswary
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
