Constrictive pericarditis (CP) and restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) are serious disorders that share common pathophysiologic elements including biventricular diastolic dysfunction, elevated biatrial pressures, and reduced resting cardiac output. Yet, while these 2 disorders have similar clinical presentations, they are caused by very different pathologic processes, which have distinct implications for treatment. CP is potentially curable by surgical pericardiectomy, whereas therapeutic options for RCM are limited. A mistakenly undertaken surgical pericardiectomy in a patient with RCM would be highly inappropriate. Consequently, accurate differentiation between these 2 superficially similar disorders is of paramount clinical importance. The report by Jain et al¹ in this issue of JAMA Cardiology describes a simplification of an established technique that aids in distinguishing these 2 groups of disorders.

缩窄性心包炎 (CP) 和限制性心肌病 (RCM) 是严重的疾病，具有共同的病理生理因素，包括双心室舒张功能障碍、双心房压力升高和静息心输出量减少。然而，虽然这两种疾病具有相似的临床表现，但它们是由非常不同的病理过程引起的，这对治疗有不同的影响。CP 可通过手术心包切除术治愈，而 RCM 的治疗选择有限。对 RCM 患者错误地进行心包切除术是非常不合适的。因此，准确区分这两种表面相似的疾病具有重要的临床意义。Jain 等人在本期JAMA Cardiology上的报告¹描述了有助于区分这两组疾病的既定技术的简化。