Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
Re: Pericarditis?
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests.
Re: Pericarditis?
by CCF CARDIO MD DLB, Jan 01, 1995 12:00AM
Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - DLB on February 10, 1999 at 18:50:50:
In Reply to: Pericarditis? posted by Lisa on February 10, 1999 at 18:24:19:
I had surgery in June, 1998 to replace a bad mitral valve caused by Rheumatic Fever 22 years ago. In late August, I had chest pains and shortness of breath, inability to lay down, and was diagnosed with pericardial effusion and put on Prednisone. After tapering off the Prednisone, I was fine until the pain and sob reoccured after 2 weeks. I was put on Prednisone again with the same result, except it took 5 weeks for the pain and sob to reoccur. That time, my doctor decided to try the Prednisone protocol, and then leaving me on a low dose (2.5 mg) of Prednisone for a month. About 2-3 weeks into the month, the pains and sob reoccurred. However, this time, the Echo picks up no evidence of fluid, and the EKG is normal other than a pulse rate of 100-105. Is it possible to have pericarditis with a normal Echo and EKG?
Thanks.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Lisa
This is actually a complicated question. A pericardial effusion can cause shortness of breath. If there is no effusion, but you are still having severe symptoms as before, a possibility is that you have constrictive pericarditis. This is a process where recurrent inflammation (as from repeated episodes of pericardial effusion) leads to scarring of the pericardium. The symptoms can mimic pericardial effusion, but the lack of an effusion on echo leads the doctor to mistakenly conclude that there is nothing wrong. There are signs on echo of constrictive pericarditis, but it requires a very experienced echo lab to make this diagnosis. Many times a catheterization and/or cardiac MRI are needed. One of the world's experts in pericardial disease, Dr. Allen Klein, is here at the Cleveland Clinic.
I hope this has been useful. I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to write back.
Information provided here is for general purposes only. Specific questions should be addressed to your own doctor. If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.
In Reply to: Pericarditis? posted by Lisa on February 10, 1999 at 18:24:19:
I had surgery in June, 1998 to replace a bad mitral valve caused by Rheumatic Fever 22 years ago. In late August, I had chest pains and shortness of breath, inability to lay down, and was diagnosed with pericardial effusion and put on Prednisone. After tapering off the Prednisone, I was fine until the pain and sob reoccured after 2 weeks. I was put on Prednisone again with the same result, except it took 5 weeks for the pain and sob to reoccur. That time, my doctor decided to try the Prednisone protocol, and then leaving me on a low dose (2.5 mg) of Prednisone for a month. About 2-3 weeks into the month, the pains and sob reoccurred. However, this time, the Echo picks up no evidence of fluid, and the EKG is normal other than a pulse rate of 100-105. Is it possible to have pericarditis with a normal Echo and EKG?
Thanks.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Lisa
This is actually a complicated question. A pericardial effusion can cause shortness of breath. If there is no effusion, but you are still having severe symptoms as before, a possibility is that you have constrictive pericarditis. This is a process where recurrent inflammation (as from repeated episodes of pericardial effusion) leads to scarring of the pericardium. The symptoms can mimic pericardial effusion, but the lack of an effusion on echo leads the doctor to mistakenly conclude that there is nothing wrong. There are signs on echo of constrictive pericarditis, but it requires a very experienced echo lab to make this diagnosis. Many times a catheterization and/or cardiac MRI are needed. One of the world's experts in pericardial disease, Dr. Allen Klein, is here at the Cleveland Clinic.
I hope this has been useful. I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to write back.
Information provided here is for general purposes only. Specific questions should be addressed to your own doctor. If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.
