The pericardium is a thin, two-layered membrane with a small amount of fluid between the sheets that covers the heart and protects it from possible injury and infection. In addition, the pericardium prevents the chambers of the heart from expanding excessively during diastole, which also allows the heart to work as efficiently as possible. The inflammatory process localized in the pericardium is called pericarditis. Most cases of pericarditis are reported in men.
Pericarditis is always acute illness, which, however, can last up to several months. If the pericardium were accessible to direct inspection, it would be possible to find that it is hyperemic and swollen (as, for example, the skin around a wound looks). In some cases, during the inflammatory process, it is secreted a large number of inflammatory fluid that accumulates between the layers of the pericardium and can even limit the mobility of the heart.
Symptoms of pericarditis
The main symptom of pericarditis is acute pain in the heart, which increases with coughing and movement, and decreases when the patient bends forward.The main “chest” symptoms include:
- Sharp, dagger-like pain behind the sternum. Caused by friction of the heart against the pericardium.
- The pain may intensify when coughing, swallowing, taking a deep breath, or trying to lie down.
- The pain decreases when the person sits forward.
- In some cases, the patient holds the chest with his hand or tries to press something against it (for example, a pillow).
Other symptoms may include:
- Chest pain radiating to the back, neck, left hand.
- , worse when lying down.
- Dry cough.
- Anxiety, fatigue.
Some people may experience pericarditis. This is usually a symptom of constrictive pericarditis, a very severe form of the disease.
With constrictive pericarditis, the pericardial tissue thickens, hardens and prevents the heart from working normally, limiting its range of motion. In this case, the heart cannot cope with the volume of blood entering it. Because of this, swelling occurs. If such a patient does not receive adequate treatment, he may develop.
Pericarditis or any suspicion of it is a reason to immediately call ambulance or get to the hospital on your own (with the help of family and friends), since this condition is very dangerous and requires treatment.
Autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic and some others can also cause pericarditis.
Rare causes include:
- Post-traumatic pericarditis (for example, with penetrating chest injury).
- Uremic pericarditis in the background.
- Pericarditis with tumors.
- Pericarditis in familial Mediterranean fever.
- Pericarditis while taking immunosuppressants.
The risk of pericarditis also increases after:
- and heart surgery (Dressler syndrome).
- Radiation therapy.
- Percutaneous types of cardiac examination and treatment such as radiofrequency ablation and cardiac catheterization.
In these cases, it is believed that the body begins to mistakenly attack the pericardial cells, which causes inflammation. The difficulty of diagnosis in such patients is that after such interventions (catheterization, radiofrequency ablation) it may take several weeks before pericarditis develops.
For many people, the cause of the disease remains unclear. This type of pericarditis is called idiopathic.
Pericarditis often becomes chronic, that is, after a period of exacerbations there is a slight lull, and then after exposure to provoking factors the disease returns.
When should you see a doctor?
If the first symptoms of pericarditis appear, you should immediately seek medical help. If pericarditis is not treated, it can lead to dire consequences, including death. Since during inflammation, fluid accumulates between the layers of the pericardium, the volume of which can exceed 1000 ml in advanced cases, there is a high probability of developing such a clinical manifestation as cardiac tamponade. This is a condition when the heart is unable to effectively contract and relax, causing pain to occur.
Symptoms of impending cardiac tamponade:
- Difficulty breathing
- Shallow and rapid breathing
- Pallor
- Sharp weakness
- Loss of consciousness
- Heart rhythm disturbances
If cardiac tamponade is suspected, emergency medical attention is required.
Signs of constrictive pericarditis:
- Dyspnea.
- Edema lower limbs.
- Heart rhythm disturbances.
- Enlargement of the abdomen (due to the accumulation of fluid in it due to heart failure).
If you suspect constrictive pericarditis, you should seek help from a cardiology or therapeutic department the nearest hospital.
Diagnosis of pericarditis
During auscultation of pericarditis, the doctor will hear a characteristic noise - a pericardial friction noise. First of all, the doctor will be interested in the following two symptoms:
- Sharp pain radiating to the back, neck and left arm.
- Difficulty breathing.
The combination of these signs indicates that the patient has pericarditis rather than acute coronary syndrome.
It is also necessary to tell the doctor in detail what you have been sick with recently, as this will make it easier to identify the cause of the disease (viral, bacterial or autoimmune pericarditis). You cannot hide the fact that you have previously had surgery (especially on the heart) or have chronic (renal failure) or autoimmune diseases (for example, systemic lupus erythematosus).
During the physical examination, the doctor will listen to heart sounds using a stethoscope. One of the classic auscultatory signs of pericarditis is a pericardial friction rub. This sound resembles rubbing of pieces of paper and occurs when the inflamed pericardium rubs against each other. After liquid accumulates between the leaves, this noise will disappear. If the disease is already advanced, the doctor can listen for moist rales in the lungs, which will indicate decompensation of the process and an increase in heart failure.
Diagnostic examination includes:
- X-ray examination of the chest: the image clearly visualizes an increase in the shadow of the heart and congestion in the lungs.
- Electrocardiogram: ECG may show characteristic features cardiac dysfunction and pericardial damage. With constrictive pericarditis, typical changes are also revealed on the film.
- Echocardiography: EchoCG allows not only to “see” inflammatory process, but also measure the amount of fluid in the pericardial cavity. This is especially important for determining the need for surgical intervention - puncture of the pericardium with subsequent removal of excess fluid.
- Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging: these studies help to visualize the presence of fluid in the pericardial cavity, but also to determine the presence of inflammation using a special substance gadolin. CT and MRI can assess the degree of pericardial thickening and the risk of cardiac tamponade.
- Cardiac catheterization: this invasive diagnostic method makes it possible to determine the efficiency of the heart, pressure in the atria and ventricles.
- Laboratory tests: Special blood tests will help accurately differentiate a heart attack from pericarditis, as well as determine the nature of the disease (viruses or bacteria). Determining the level of C-reactive protein will help confirm inflammation and determine its activity.
Other tests will also be done to rule out autoimmune diseases.
How is pericarditis treated?
Before starting treatment, it is necessary to establish the cause of pericarditis; the treatment regimen will depend on this.
In all cases, the patient to reduce pain syndrome and as an anti-inflammatory treatment will be prescribed (ibuprofen, diclofenac, etc.) in large doses in combination with proton pump blockers (omeprazole) to protect the gastric mucosa. This treatment will help relieve pain and reduce swelling of the pericardial tissue.
If pericarditis has become chronic and the exacerbation lasts a very long time (2 weeks or more), then the patient is prescribed colchicine. This drug has been successfully used as an anti-inflammatory agent for a very long time. Sometimes colchicine is combined with ibuprofen, this helps to achieve the best results in treatment.
If pericarditis infectious, antibiotics are prescribed when determining the bacterial nature of the pathogen.
If pericarditis caused by fungi, then an appropriate antifungal agent is prescribed.
Other drugs prescribed for pericarditis
- Glucocorticosteroids (for example, Prednisone). These substances have a strong anti-inflammatory effect; in addition, without them it will not be possible to cure pericarditis caused by an autoimmune process.
- Diuretics. These drugs remove excess water from the body, reduce swelling and stress on the heart, and alleviate the patient’s condition.
- Narcotic analgesics. In case of particularly severe pain that is not relieved by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the patient may be prescribed narcotic analgesics. Unfortunately, the strong analgesic effect is combined with a high risk of drug addiction.
If fluid continues to accumulate in the pericardium
- Pericardiocentesis may be performed. After treating the skin in the sternum area and administering local anesthesia (lidocaine), the surgeon will insert a needle into the pericardial cavity and remove excess fluid. Sometimes this procedure is performed under echocardiography guidance.
- Sometimes patients are given a so-called pericardial window. The surgeon makes a small incision in the pericardium and creates a shunt into the abdominal cavity, allowing accumulated fluid to drain into the abdomen.
- In especially severe cases with constrictive pericarditis, surgical treatment. During surgery, the surgeon removes part of the pericardium (pericardiotomy), allowing the heart to pump normally.
Possible complications of pericarditis
Constrictive pericarditis
This is a very severe form of pericarditis, in which the pericardial layers become calcified and scarred due to inflammation. All this leads to the fact that the heart becomes compressed and can no longer perform its functions fully. Patients with constrictive pericarditis develop heart failure, which is manifested by swelling of the extremities, stagnation of fluid in the lungs, accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity (ascites), severe shortness of breath, and cardiac arrhythmias.
Constrictive pericarditis is treated with both therapeutic and surgical methods. If diuretics and drugs to maintain a normal heart rhythm are ineffective, then pericardiotomy is performed.
Cardiac tamponade
If the inflammatory fluid accumulates between the pericardial layers very quickly and there is a lot of it, then this can lead to a clinical condition such as cardiac tamponade. In this case, the heart becomes so compressed that it cannot contract. Cardiac tamponade is a condition that threatens the patient’s life and requires emergency medical care.
Life after pericarditis
For most people, pericarditis resolves within a maximum of 3 months and does not cause any complications. Therefore, after the rehabilitation period, a person can return to work and usual activities.
In rare cases, pericarditis may recur. Then you will again need to seek medical help. It will be necessary to undergo repeated examination and treatment.
Prevention of pericarditis
Severe ARVI suffered on the legs can lead to viral pericarditis. Since in most cases, pericarditis develops after a viral infection, it is necessary to carefully monitor your health and receive timely treatment. You shouldn’t suffer another cold on your feet; it can be very costly in the future.
Sections of the article=-
What is pericarditis?
Pericarditis is inflammatory disease serous membrane of the heart. Most of all, it is complications of all kinds of diseases, for example, rheumatism, pleurisy, tuberculosis, vitamin deficiency lupus, influenza, measles. This disease rarely occurs on its own. With this disease, excess fluid accumulates in the serosa, which forms fibrous strictures and impedes the functioning of the heart.
Pericarditis can be chronic and acute, as well as effusion and dry.
Causes of pericarditis
Most often, the causes of pericarditis are a number of viral infections, although the etiology of pericarditis has been little studied. An unlikely manifestation of this disease can be caused by diseases such as a heart attack, harmful infections, chest trauma, or radiation for cancer. Inflammation of this disease can also occur in diseases such as renal failure, tuberculosis, autoimmune diseases, hypothyroidism, uremia, hemorrhagic diathesis, and it is also known that when taking certain medications it can cause the occurrence of this disease.
Symptoms of pericarditis
Signs of pericarditis vary depending on its type. With dry pericarditis, clinical symptoms such as heart pain spreading to the back or epigastric region are distinguished. "Snow crunching" is typical for this type of disease when listening to the heart. When the pericardium rubs, this noise is created: fibrin (high molecular weight protein) which is deposited in the serous membrane of the heart on its internal surfaces.
Effusion pericarditis has several subtypes: purulent, hemorrhagic and serous. Effusion is fluid that is released due to inflammation from small blood vessels. With effusion, the pressure in the pericardium increases, which complicates the work of the heart. The effusion constantly compresses the surrounding tissues and organs. When the disease is pericarditis, the patient's vena cava is compressed and this leads to the fact that the blood in the veins and liver stagnates, in turn provoking the occurrence of ascites. With effusion pericarditis, shortness of breath and pain in the right hypochondrium are symptoms, as well as an enlarged liver; in sufferers, the veins in the neck swell and the face becomes puffy; in young people, a bulge may appear in the heart area, and the pulse most likely quickens and the heart sounds are weak. For acute pericarditis, a characteristic clinical manifestation is chest pain, which becomes much worse with very deep breathing, sudden movements and coughing. Patients experience shortness of breath, increased temperature; tests often indicate leukocytosis, increased ESR. Chronic pericarditis and its symptoms most often begin not very pronounced. The liver enlarges and thickens in size, cyanosis, ascites, heart failure and swelling of the legs, and this begins with the pericardium, when the pericardial layers grow together.
Pericarditis in children
Most often, after 6 years of age, children begin to suffer from this disease. And the cause of its occurrence may be typhus, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, rheumatism or septic lesions. Pericarditis begins acutely: the child’s general condition rapidly deteriorates and fever begins. The child is anxious, there is chest pain, he is pale and shortness of breath appears, and in the heart area a feeling of constriction is all symptoms of the disease, but in general there are no fundamental differences in children from adults with signs of pericarditis. Typically, pericarditis is not a dangerous disease and goes away on its own. It is much more important to determine the cause of its occurrence, preventing the disease from progressing into a deeper form.
Treatment of pericarditis
Pericarditis often goes away without any problems or complications within a few weeks without any special treatment. The attending physician will be able to prescribe painkillers to the patient, which will reduce discomfort and heart pain. In more severe forms of pericarditis, strict bed rest is recommended. Incorrect posture when lying down can increase pain, so the patient must be in a very comfortable position all the time. Depending on the disease that caused pericarditis, drug treatment is prescribed. Treat with antibiotics, and treat with various drugs for rheumatism (gamma globulin, glucocorticoids, anti-inflammatory drugs). To remove fluid, pericarditis is pierced; this is already the case if the disease leads to a large accumulation of exudate and it impairs blood circulation. In cases of compressive pericarditis, surgical treatment is required in which part of the pericardium is excised (pericardiectomy). The prognosis of pericarditis may depend on factors such as the course and severity of the underlying disease and the amount of fluid accumulated in the pericardium. Purulent pericarditis seems to be the most life-threatening: it requires immediate hospitalization and treatment. Auditions, chest x-rays, echocardiograms, and electrocardiograms are used to diagnose pericarditis.
VIDEO
Treatment of pericarditis with pine needles and birch buds
Needles from young and coniferous trees (juniper, spruce, pine or fir) can be used as an effective folk method for treating pericarditis. A healing decoction is made from them: pine needles (five tablespoons) which are steamed in boiling water (500 ml), then put on very low heat and brought to a boil for 10 minutes. Next, the container with the decoction must be left to steep and covered for at least 8 hours. The strained product is consumed half a glass up to 5 times a day.
Tincture from birch catkins is great recipe. Having chosen large earrings, it is better to pour them into a liter jar about 2/3 of the volume and then fill the jar with vodka, and after that you need to close the jar with a nylon lid and leave for 2 weeks. Before you start taking the tincture, there is no need to strain the tincture, but take 20 drops of the tincture every day in three doses and take it best before meals - half an hour before. She will be able to help a patient with weakness, shortness of breath and heart pain.
Treatment of pericarditis with medicinal preparations and mixtures
From folk way There are few treatments for pericarditis using medicinal herbs, and the most popular of them will be listed for you below.
Method 1. We take the herbs of motherwort and cudweed, as well as hawthorn flowers (3 parts of each ingredient) which are combined with chamomile flowers (1 part). After mixing these ingredients well, take a tablespoon and pour it into a glass of boiling water. After brewing for 8 hours, strain this medicine through cotton wool and a layer of gauze, and then drink 100 ml 3 times a day after meals an hour later.
Method 2. We take 2 parts of anise fruit, which we mix with the rhizome of medicinal valerian and anise roots, as well as with lemon balm leaves and yarrow herb (1 part of each ingredient). After this, the composition (1 tablespoon) is added to a glass of boiling water and left for half an hour. Before taking this tincture, you need to strain and drink it 2-3 times.
Method 3. The lemon is removed from the seeds and ground together with the peel in a meat grinder. Then it is mixed with apricot kernels, which are first ground to a powdery state. To the resulting composition add porridge, which is obtained from honey and pelargonium (500 ml), and take one tablespoon of this medicine before each meal.
Treatment of pericarditis with balms
Balms, the recipes for which you will read below, are excellent folk remedies for the treatment of pericarditis and other heart diseases (myocarditis and endocarditis).
Balm first. To prepare this balm, you need to mix in a dark glass bottle tinctures from leaves such as three-leaf watch, birch, and also add to them hawthorn fruits and spring adonis herb (200 ml each). Then to this you need to add tincture of the root of plowed steelweed, asparagus, valerian root, motherwort, black poplar buds and creeping wheatgrass root (100 ml each) and also add tincture of meadowsweet rhizome 400 ml, and take this tincture no later than 20 minutes before taking a tablespoon of food three times a day.
Balm two. To prepare this tincture, you need a dark container in which you need to combine 100 ml of tincture from aspen buds, knotweed, hop cones, medicinal dandelion, burda grass, corn stalks, lemon balm, as well as 200 ml each of peppermint, horned flower and chebritsa, and we use this balm is the same as the first one.
Treatment of pericarditis with cornflower and honey
Rheumatic pericarditis is treated with tincture of cornflower flower. To prepare this tincture, you need to take a tablespoon of the ingredients and pour 100 milliliters of 70-degree alcohol into it and let it brew for at least 12 days, and it is better to take it 30 minutes before meals in 3 doses in one day. Depending on the general condition of the patient, the duration of the course of treatment.
Treatment with rose hips and honey treats dry pericarditis, which occurs as complications in patients after the flu. First of all, we prepare a rosehip tincture, for this we put a teaspoon of crushed rose hips in a thermos and fill it with half a liter of boiling water, leave it to infuse for 8–10 hours, and then combine it with copper (1 tablespoon) and strain. This is delicious and healthy tea drink half a glass three times a day.
What you need to remember is that proper nutrition Very good for the heart. Your diet should always include greens, nuts, fish, dried fruits, sea buckthorn, orange and pumpkin juices, raspberries, seaweed and dairy products, and taking bee pollen, royal jelly and fish oil is harmless.
Constrictive pericarditis
Constrictive (compressive) pericarditis rarely develops independently and most often appears to be a complication of exudative pericarditis. A characteristic feature of this disease is the close fusion of both layers of the pericardium. The pericardium becomes thicker and denser, due to which its elasticity and mobility are lost when the heart muscle contracts. After some time, an accumulation of calcium salts develops in the compacted pericardium, which leads to fusion of the heart and the outer membrane, which in turn greatly complicates the work of the heart muscle. When there are too many calcium salts, the pericardium hardens and the heart becomes “shell-like.”
Circulatory disorders occur with constrictive pericarditis: large veins are filled with blood, and the chambers of the heart are terribly filled with it (blood stagnates in the great circle of blood circulation). Constrictive pericarditis can occur due to diseases such as tuberculosis, rheumatism, other infections, blood diseases, chest injuries and renal failure. It can act as the final form of exudative pericarditis. In most cases, from the onset of the disease to the appearance of visible clinical symptoms and the operation takes about a month to several years. Constrictive pericarditis occurs in 3 stages: initial, dystrophic and severe. At the initial stage, shortness of breath and weakness are characteristic. The severe stage has such manifestations as the veins in the neck swell, ascites and puffiness of the face. At the stage of dystrophy, hypoproteinemia occurs (low content of total protein in the blood), fluid accumulates in the tissues, swelling appears, and the immune system is weakened.
Symptoms of constrictive pericarditis
When this disease occurs independently, at first it most often does not have pronounced clinical manifestations. People have complaints only at a time when there is stagnation of blood in the great circle of blood circulation.
Symptoms of constrictive pericarditis are dilated veins in the neck, a feeling of heaviness, swelling of the lower extremities, compression in the hypochondrium, pain in the heart, shortness of breath, fatigue, decreased appetite, weight loss. There is an increase in the volume of the abdomen in patients, as well as a decrease in blood pressure and an increase in pulse rate, an increase in venous pressure and the development of ascites (fluid accumulation in the abdominal cavity).
It is possible to detect constriction using fluoroscopy only in later, in this regard|therefore, for correct early diagnosis, an echocardiogram is most often performed.
Treatment of constrictive pericarditis
The heart is damaged mechanically in constrictive pericarditis; therefore, medications are not used for treatment. The only way to avoid squeezing the heart is surgical intervention. Most of the pericardium is cut off (pericardiectomy). Before surgery, the patient is placed on a low-salt diet and diuretics are used. The prognosis for this operation is not bad, one can say that patients recover completely all the time, and the mortality rate is low (approximately 5–15%), and the recovery of patients most often depends on the condition of the liver and kidneys, as well as the degree of atrophied myocardium.
Cardiologist
Higher education:
Cardiologist
Saratov State medical University them. IN AND. Razumovsky (SSMU, media)
Level of education - Specialist
Additional education:
"Emergency Cardiology"
1990 - Ryazan Medical Institute named after Academician I.P. Pavlova
To treat acute and chronic forms of inflammation of the pericardial sac (pericarditis), specialists in most cases use two areas of medical care: homeopathic remedies And medications (chemical substances). The choice of one method or another depends on the characteristics of the development of the disease and the cause that caused the inflammatory process or complication. Surgical intervention is also used, which depends on the patient’s health condition and the characteristics of the pathology.
In most cases, therapy is implemented while the patient is in a hospital, but often, if the characteristics of the disease (mild form of pathology) allow and there is no tendency to complications, therapeutic influence is allowed under outpatient observation conditions. When treating pericarditis, there are no special requirements for adherence to special diets, however, experts have developed recommendations on certain regimens and diets that help prevent the development of complications of the pathology.
The main role is given to the application drug treatment, which is implemented in the form of a course of basic therapy, involving the use of anti-inflammatory and painkillers, as well as etiological treatment used to provide a therapeutic effect on the cause of the development of the pathology.
Features of the basic therapy course
The therapeutic effect exerted during the implementation of a course of basic therapy comes down to treatment symptomatic manifestations pericarditis. The main goal is to relieve seizures and other external signs pathology, while the causes of the inflammatory process are not treated. A course of basic therapy with medications (drugs) and substances is a classic method of treatment. When implementing it use:
- acetylsalicylic acid;
- non-selective inhibitors: diclofenac, ibuprofen, indomethacin and derivatives of the active substances of these drugs;
- selective inhibitors: lornoxicam (in tablet form and in injection form), meloxicam and celecoxib, as well as derivatives of the active substances of these drugs;
- analgesics (painkillers): tramadol, pantazocine and morphine, derivatives of the active substances of these drugs.
A drug course of basic therapy is usually used in the treatment of idiopathic (self-occurring) forms of the disease, as well as in cases where the cause of the pathology has not been established.
All patients suffering from pericarditis and undergoing treatment with medications in the form of tablets need protection gastrointestinal tract. Acute manifestations of the pathology are treated with the use of colchicine, which is also an effective preventive measure for the development of relapse of the disease. This drug is well tolerated by the human body and exhibits the least side effects.
Features of the action of some drugs in the basic course of drug therapy
Most often in the basic course drug therapy acetylsalicylic acid - aspirin is used. This drug, by acting on platelets, reduces coagulability and increases pericardial effusion. Drugs such as ibuprofen (indomethacin and diclofenac) are recommended to be taken after meals: they contain enzymes that affect the inflammatory process and can provoke gastritis or the development of stomach ulcers.
All selective inhibitors used for treatment in the form of tablets have the least effect on the gastric mucosa and are recommended for patients suffering from peptic ulcer and other pathologies of the digestive system.
Analgesics are used to relieve the sensation of pain experienced by the patient. Painkillers used to treat pericarditis can be addictive, so their prescription and use are strictly controlled by a medical specialist. The dose of the drug and the method of its administration into the body are selected by the doctor, taking into account the characteristics of the development of the disease and the condition of the patient’s body.
Features of therapy in the presence and absence of cardiac tamponade
In the absence of cardiac tamponade and moderate effusion, the patient is recommended to take the drug Furosemide, which promotes the natural removal of fluid from the patient’s body, as well as the absorption of effusion from the pericardium. The course of treatment with this drug, as a rule, does not exceed a week, after which the dose is reduced and minimized. In the presence of cardiac tamponade, pericardial puncture is performed and the use of glucocorticosteroid drugs injected directly into the pericardial epithelium is recommended.
Glucocorticosteroid drugs are hormonal drugs that have an anti-inflammatory effect. In most cases, prednisolone, as well as its derivatives decortin, prednol and metypred, are used to relieve inflammation. Systematic use of corticosteroid drugs should be strictly limited to patients with connective tissue pathologies, as well as autoreactive or uremic pericarditis. In this case, the introduction of glucocorticosteroid drugs directly into the pericardial area is highly effective.
Drugs used to treat infectious forms of pericarditis
Therapy for pericarditis that develops as a result of an infectious lesion is carried out only in conditions of inpatient treatment and observation of the patient. In this form of the disease, almost all medications are administered intravenously into the patient’s body, which requires medical personnel to have certain skills; this method of systematic administration of drugs and substances is not recommended in outpatient treatment settings.
To treat the infectious form, vancomycin, amoxiclav and benzylpenicillin are used. These drugs belong to a group of antibiotics, the effect of which may be allergic reaction. Also, as a result of the use of such drugs, there may be side effects. Other antimicrobial drugs are often used, the choice of which depends on the characteristics of the development of the pathology.
Treatment of fungal and tuberculous forms of pericarditis
To treat pericarditis caused by a fungal infection of the patient's body, flucytosine and amphotericin are most often used. These drugs are administered intravenously, and the course of their use is designed for several weeks. The dosage is determined by a specialist and depends on the stage of development of the pathology and the general condition of the patient’s body. The fungal form of pericarditis sometimes disappears on its own, without the use of treatment.
Pericarditis, caused by tuberculosis in the patient’s body, is cured with drugs selected depending on the form, stage of development and characteristics of the underlying disease. The patient is usually placed in specialized medical institutions, and the duration of therapeutic influence can take several months. Rifampicin, isoniazid and pyrazinamide are used to treat the tuberculosis form of the disease.
Curing viral pericarditis
Therapy for viral pericarditis presents certain difficulties and is implemented only under conditions of inpatient observation of the patient. During treatment, the main attention is paid to the course of basic therapy with medications, this helps to avoid the development of complications. Specific recommendations for admission medicines none. The course and features of treatment are determined depending on the causative agent of the disease and its susceptibility to the active substance of the drug.
To treat pathology caused by damage to the patient's body by cytomegalovirus, hyperimmunoglobulin is used. It is administered intravenously over several weeks. The same drug is used if there is a therapeutic effect on parvovirus or adenovirus. When affected by the Coxsackie B virus, interferons are used, which are injected into epithelial tissue pericardium.
Treatment for autoimmune pathology
For drug therapy of pericarditis, which is autoimmune in nature, hormonal drugs and substances are used, as well as cytostatics, such as colchicine. The course of therapy is difficult to implement and is carried out under conditions of inpatient observation and treatment of the patient. It is possible to completely cure the pathology in isolated cases; relapses of the disease are often observed, which are characterized by long periods of remission.
The success of the therapeutic effect with this type of pericarditis depends on reducing the amount of effusion in the bursa, the degree and characteristics of the resorption of the effusion, as well as the elimination (reduction) of cardiac pericardial friction murmurs and a decrease in the content of leukocytes in the blood - the main sign of the inflammation process.
Homeopathic medicines and traditional medicine
Facilities traditional medicine used as additional (auxiliary) medicines. Anti-inflammatory herbs and preparations are recommended for use. Diuretic herbs are not used if the main course of treatment recommended by a specialist already contains diuretic drugs.
In most cases, pericarditis is a consequence of the development of a serious pathology in the patient’s body. A specialist can select homeopathic medicines, which are recommended for the treatment of the underlying disease. Self-medication is unacceptable; it can lead to the development of complications that are difficult to treat. For example, the formation of purulent pericarditis poses a threat not only to the health, but also to the life of the patient.
Homemade folk remedies as a way to combat pericarditis are recommended only in combination with traditional treatment under the supervision of a cardiologist. Folk wisdom has accumulated many invaluable effective recipes for healing the disease.
Traditional medicine recipes for treating pericarditis at home
To the most effective means The following recipes include:
- Combine crushed pine needles of any tree in the amount of five tablespoons with 0.5 liters of hot water and steam for 10 minutes. Leave for 6-8 hours, consume 100 ml 5 times a day. In addition to being a diuretic, the infusion has an antimicrobial effect and stops the inflammatory process. It contains useful minerals and vitamins.
- Pour large staminate birch catkins into a glass container up to 2/3 of the volume, completely fill with 40° vodka, leave for two weeks. Take 10 g three times half an hour before meals. Start taking the tincture with 20 drops. There is a disappearance of chest pain and shortness of breath, the medicine promotes a cheerful state.
- Combine anise fruits with yarrow, lemon balm leaves, and valerian roots in a 2:1 ratio. Leave a tablespoon of these ingredients in a glass of boiling water for half an hour and give to the patient 3 times a day.
- Lemon without seeds, but with skin, chop, add kernel powder apricot kernels and 500 g of geranium and honey pulp. Take a tablespoon before meals.
- 15 chopped greens walnuts insist on 0.5 liters of alcohol for two weeks. Dilute a dessert spoon of tincture with the same amount of water. Drink 2 times after meals. The medicine has the properties of an effective immunostimulant.
- Mix equally chopped walnut kernels with honey. Divide into three doses on an empty stomach, 2 tablespoons each. The mixture has a general strengthening effect on the body.
- Make tinctures from columns of corn, dandelion, aspen buds, knotweed, hop inflorescences, aerial parts of ivy bud, lemon balm. Pour half a glass of each extract into a jar, add a glass of tinctures of mint, thyme, and adonis. Keep this balsamic composition out of reach. Use a tablespoon three times before meals.
- Brew 10 g of rose hips in 2 glasses of hot water and leave overnight. Enrich the infusion with a spoon of honey. Taking 100 ml of the drug three times a day has a beneficial effect on dry pericarditis resulting from an infectious disease.
- Keep the tincture at the rate of 20 g of cornflowers per 100 ml of alcohol (70°) for 12 days. Take 20 drops three times before meals. The drug helps with rheumatic pericarditis.
- Pour a mixture of medicinal chamomile flowers with cucumber, motherwort, hawthorn flowers in a ratio of 1:3 with boiling water at the rate of 0.5 liters per 20 g. Leave for 8 hours, strain and give to the patient after meals 3 times a day, 100 ml.
The therapeutic effect of herbal components is achieved if they are used in combination with proper diet.
The patient's diet should include fish and dairy products, nuts, dried apricots, summer berries, orange and pumpkin juice, seaweed salads. It is useful to enter as food additives beekeeping products - bee pollen, royal jelly. A balanced diet contributes to successful healing.
When using natural ingredients at home, you should monitor the patient’s individual reaction to medicinal composition at different phases of the disease.
Is it possible to cure pericarditis only with folk remedies?
On early stage disease when it occurs in mild form, medicinal herbs will help cope with the first symptoms. But inflammation of the pericardium, caused by microorganisms, viruses, bacteria, weakens the body’s protective functions and its immunity. Infections of various origins provoke concomitant diseases - rheumatic, colds, pneumonia, toxoplasmosis, post-traumatic tissue damage. Pericarditis can occur against the background of renal failure or myocardial infarction. In these cases, methods traditional therapy is not enough, a systematic approach is required.
Treatment with traditional methods alone and neglect of therapy based on the use of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs can have adverse consequences.
Known examples of disruption immune system. In the acute phase of the disease, drug treatment is indispensable. If purulent exudate accumulates in the cavity of the heart sac, death is possible.
A timely comprehensive examination of the patient will allow the cardiologist to prescribe appropriate therapy, determine the exact dose and optimal regimen for taking medications:
- corticosteroids;
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
- individually, if necessary - diuretics, antimicrobial agents.
Some forms of pericarditis require hospitalization to avoid tamponade, fluid accumulation, and myocardial compression. For chronic compressive pericarditis, surgical intervention is prescribed.
Pericarditis is a disease fraught with complications when the use of traditional medicine methods is futile.
The result of severe forms of pericarditis can be impaired blood circulation and acute cardiac tamponade, myocardial compression, and attenuation of contractions. Pathology can lead to fusion of the myocardium with chest and spine. The disease can cause irreversible changes in the myocardium and loss of performance.
The experience of traditional medicine is successfully used to prevent pericarditis or when medications are temporarily contraindicated for a patient for various reasons. Use exclusively traditional methods treatment is only permissible in recovery period, under the supervision of a doctor.
Arsenal modern medicine has a variety of methods for treating pericarditis. The methodology is being improved, new medications are appearing. Natural healing balms, decoctions, and tinctures are recommended to be used only as an auxiliary resource, after completing an outpatient course and discontinuing a course of medications.
The site provides background information for informational purposes only. Diagnosis and treatment of diseases must be carried out under the supervision of a specialist. All drugs have contraindications. Consultation with a specialist is required!
Pericarditis is an inflammation of the pericardial sac, occurring in acute or chronic form.Causes
Factors causing pericarditis:- Pathogenic microorganisms ( including protozoa, fungi, viruses),
- Systemic lupus erythematosus,
- Exposure to radioactive rays on the body
- Neoplasm,
- Some types of worms.
The most common cause of the disease is autoimmune diseases.
Spicy
Inflammation covers the outer and inner layers of the pericardium, often spreading to nearby organs. The first stages of the disease pass without additional release of exudate ( dry pericarditis), gradually flowing into an exudative form.Symptoms:
- Pain of a different nature, localized in the heart area. The pain can be mild or very severe. May radiate to the neck or left arm.
- The disease may occur without pronounced symptoms.
Non-specific
This form of the disease often occurs in a recurrent form. Relapses coincide with infectious diseases (acute respiratory infections), overheating. Most often it occurs in a dry form. During the period of remission, it is impossible to detect disturbances in the state of the pericardium. In isolated cases, it develops into a chronic exudative or constrictive form.Exudative
Exudative or effusion pericarditis is characterized by inflammation with accumulation of fluid inside the heart sac. If a healthy person has up to 30 ml of this fluid, then with pericarditis of this form it can be more than 300 ml.The main cause of this form of the disease is the staphylococcal pathogen, tuberculosis bacillus, and rheumatism.
The rate of fluid accumulation can vary; the more fluid there is, the more the heart is compressed and its functions worsen. In the most severe cases, there is a possibility of death.
The first symptoms of this disease are aching pains in the heart area, gradually tachycardia and shortness of breath join them. In rare cases, fever and increased body temperature are observed.
Gradually, the patient develops symptoms of heart failure.
Ultrasound examination allows you to detect fluid accumulation in the heart sac with a volume of 50 ml or more.
Constrictive
This form of the disease is most often a complication of the acute exudative form. Often develops against the background of tuberculosis, rheumatism, trauma, kidney or blood diseases.With this form, the two layers of the pericardium stick together, the wall thickens and ceases to be elastic. Calcium salts accumulate between the wall of the cardiac sac and the heart, which further impairs the functioning of the myocardium.
For a very long period the patient does not feel any discomfort. In such patients, the veins in the neck are significantly enlarged, swelling of the legs appears, the abdomen seems to swell, there is discomfort under the right rib, and blood pressure decreases. In diagnosis, one of the most important indicators is an increase in central venous pressure.
Traumatic
This disease develops from chest injuries affecting the heart sac or heart muscle.Signs: the patient feels pain in the region of the heart; when listening, characteristic “rubbing” noises are detected.
Purulent
Acute purulent pericarditis is a complicated form of traumatic inflammation of the heart sac. It is this form of the disease that most often ends in death. If the infection develops violently, 24 hours after the injury, purulent exudate accumulates in the cavity of the heart sac. Not only the heart sac swells, but also the myocardial tissue. Even if the heart sac is open and it is possible to cleanse it of pus, the prognosis of such a disease is most often unfavorable.
Another reason for the development of this form of the disease is infection in nearby organs: lungs, mediastinum, pleura.
Fibrous
Fibrous pericarditis is characterized by the fact that the fluid from the heart sac disappears completely ( Normally it should be at least 20 mg). Thus, when the myocardium contracts, it is constantly in contact with the wall of the heart sac.Chronic
If acute pericarditis is not treated on time, the process becomes chronic. But in most cases, the process initially takes on a chronic nature, characterized by an increase in the thickness of the pericardial walls and the appearance of adhesions.The most advanced form of chronic inflammation of the pericardium is shell heart . In this condition, the heart sac becomes a solid, rigid formation. Such patients suffer from impaired blood circulation; less than normal flows to the heart.
Diagnostics
On initial stage The development of the disease can be difficult to detect. Only a very experienced cardiologist, based on some features of the patient’s condition, can suspect inflammation of the heart sac. However, survey data may not reveal any violations. One likely diagnostic sign of pericarditis is an enlarged liver, as well as pain on the left side of the chest.
When listening to heart murmurs, a special friction murmur should be detected, although this does not always indicate inflammation.
X-ray or ultrasonography hearts.
Sometimes puncture of exudate from the cardiac sac is prescribed.
In children
In babies early age Most cases of pericarditis are associated with coccal infection ( for pneumonia or sepsis), as well as with influenza viruses or Coxsackie. Usually the infection enters the heart sac through the bloodstream from previously affected organs.The clinical course of the disease in children is almost identical to that in adults. In the acute period, there is pain in the heart, the child is pale, his heart beats unevenly. The pain usually radiates to the left arm, to the stomach area. The baby cannot find a position in which it would be easier for him and spins all the time. The child may cough and vomit.
In the diagnosis of pericarditis in children, punctures are almost never used. Otherwise, diagnosis and treatment are no different from those in adults.
Treatment
Treatment of the disease primarily depends on the cause that caused it.Medicines and methods used in the treatment of pericarditis:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs ( indomethacin, rheopirin, aspirin, ibuprofen),
- Glucocorticoid drugs ( prednisolone),
- Pericardial puncture ( if there is a possibility of cardiac tamponade),
- Surgical intervention ( with purulent or constrictive form),
- To normalize heart function, diuretics are prescribed, veroshpiron, and sometimes bloodletting.
Treatment with traditional methods
Such treatment methods are recommended only in combination with traditional ones, and only after consultation with a cardiologist.1. Take 5 tbsp. needles of coniferous trees, pour 0.5 liters of boiling water, hold a little over low heat. Keep in a closed and wrapped container for another night. Pass through a sieve and consume 100 ml four times a day.
2. Same amount of geranium ( the same volume as a lemon) and half a liter of honey. Use 1 tbsp. before meals three times a day. Can be used for quite a long time. Allergy sufferers should beware of this remedy.
Complications
Cardiac tamponade This is a very dangerous condition that can lead to death. During tamponade, the chambers of the heart are compressed by exudate that accumulates in the pericardium. The pressure in the heart increases and it is not fully filled with blood, so tissues and organs suffer from a lack of oxygen. The patient feels panic, his heartbeat and breathing rate accelerate, his blood pressure decreases, he faints and dies. Inflammation of the epicardial myocardium ( myocarditis) - the patient feels lethargy, tachycardia or arrhythmia, it is difficult for him to breathe when walking. Chest pain may be bothersome. For a long time, this complication may go unnoticed. This disease sometimes heals on its own. But in some cases, if the patient feels unwell, a change in heart rate can cause death.
Cirrhosis of the liver develops due to circulatory disorders in the systemic circle. It is a severe lesion of liver tissue in which healthy liver cells are replaced by connective cells. If cirrhosis develops against the background of inflammation of the heart sac, then the liver is always enlarged in size.
