DOI: 10.12890/2023_003823

Epipericardial fat necrosis

Authors

  • Yumi Otaka Department of Diagnostic and Generalist Medicine, Dokkyo Medical University Hospital, Mibu, Tochigi, Japan
  • Yukinori Harada Department of Diagnostic and Generalist Medicine, Dokkyo Medical University Hospital, Mibu, Tochigi, Japan
  • Ren Kawamura Department of Diagnostic and Generalist Medicine, Dokkyo Medical University Hospital, Mibu, Tochigi, Japan
  • Taro Shimizu Department of Diagnostic and Generalist Medicine, Dokkyo Medical University Hospital, Mibu, Tochigi, Japan

hh06m1014@yahoo.co.jp

Keywords

Epipericardial fat necrosis, chest pain, mediastinal tumour

Abstract

Introduction: Epipericardial fat necrosis (EFN) is a relatively rare benign disease that causes acute chest pain.

Case Description: A woman in her 20s presented with acute left shoulder and epigastric pain. One day before presentation, she had visited a cardiologist and an acute coronary syndrome had been ruled out. The pain worsened with deep inspiration. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed a soft-tissue attenuation lesion containing a fatty centre located in the epipericardial fat at the left cardiophrenic angle. Hence, EFN was diagnosed and the pain was resolved with loxoprofen. The lesion had disappeared on a follow-up chest CT scan.

Discussion: EFN is a rare benign disease that causes acute chest pain. Approximately 70–90% of EFN cases are misdiagnosed by clinicians as other diseases.

Conclusion: In patients with acute chest pain, the correct diagnosis of EFN avoids unnecessary invasive investigations and reassures patients.

View the entire article

Downloads

References

  1. Jackson RC, Clagett OT, Mcdonald JR. Pericardial fat necrosis; report of three cases. J Thorac Surg 1957;33:723–729.
  2. Zafar MR, Mustafa SF, Shahbaz A, Warraich S, Altaf A. Epipericardial fat necrosis: a concise review of literature. Cureus 2021;13:e13106.
  3. de Souza Giassi K, Costa AN, Bachion GH, Kairalla RA, Filho JRP. Epipericardial fat necrosis: who should be a candidate? AJR Am J Roentgenol 2016;207:773–777.
  4. Kumei S, Ishitoya S, Oya A, Ohhira M, Ishioh M, Okumura T. Epipericardial fat necrosis: a retrospective analysis in Japan. Intern Med 2022;61:2427–2430.

Published

2023-03-18

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 3 (2023)

Categories

How to Cite

1.
Otaka Y, Harada Y, Kawamura R, Shimizu T. Epipericardial fat necrosis. EJCRIM [Internet]. 2023 Mar. 18 [cited 2026 Nov. 4];10(3). Available from: https://ejcrim.com/index.php/ejcrim/article/view/3823

Most read articles by the same author(s)

<< < 1 2