**2. Historical remark**

Pericardium and pericardial diseases, especially constrictive pericarditis, have always been a concern for physicians and surgeons in cardiovascular field. Some remarkable landmarks [1, 2] are as follows: the first anatomical description of the pericardium has been done by Hippocrates in 460 BC. Centuries after, surgical treatment started in the seventeenth century by Riolan, who performed

a pericardotomy for an effusion in 1649. Then, Vieussens, some years later in 1679 and 1715, observed some cases of pericardial adhesions; from that step, the concept of constrictive pericarditis was born. Afterward, in 1728, Lancisi confirmed the existence of constrictive pericarditis and its risks such as cardiac compression and death via necropsy studies. Those observations were also mentioned by Morgagni (1761), Senac (1749), Laennec (1819), and Cheevers (1842). Clinical patterns related to the right atrium and ventricle compression, mainly as the most important source in the compression process, has been emphasized by Wilkes (1870). Based on anatomical findings, clinical pictures were then clarified: Kussmaul (1873) pointed out the venous pressure elevation in case of constrictive pericarditis; Pick (1896) described a new entity named "Pericarditis pseudocirrhosis of the liver." Since then, Pick Syndrome was recognized as a component of constrictive pericarditis clinical presentation. From that, surgical treatment was considered as the most efficient therapy for releasing heart compression due to pericardium thickness and fibrosis. By then, Rhen and Sauerbruck (1913) in Germany, Hallopeau in France (1921), Schmieden and Fisher (1926) in Germany, Churchill (1929) and Beck (1931) in USA performed the first cases of pericardiectomy for constrictive pericarditis successfully.
