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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL LONGTERM EFFECTS
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.
WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL LONGTERM EFFECTS
by MARY__0__0, Jan 06, 1999 12:00AM
A FRIEND OF MINE WAS RECENLTY DIAGNOSED WITH PERICARDITIS. ORIGINALLY HE THOUGHT HE HAD A VERY BAD CASE OF THE FLU. AFTER 24 HOURS HE WENT TO THE E.R. AND WAS TOLD HE HAD A KIDNEY STONE. HE ULTIMATLEY PASSED THE KIDNEY STONE BUT WITHIN ABOUT 4 HOURS HE HAD HEAVY CHEST PAIN. THE EKG WAS NOT REGISTERING AS A HEART ATTACK NOR DID TESTS SHOW FOR ANY CLOTTING. ULTIMATLEY, HE WAS DIAGNOSED AS HAVING PERICARDITIS AND WAS SENT HOME. I KNOW OF ONE OTHER PERSON WHO WAS DIAGNOSED WITH PERICARIDITISAND IS NOW AWAITING A HEART TRANSPLANT. I AM BASICALLY LOOKING FOR OVERALL INFORMATION AND THEN THE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ARE:
-DOES A PERSON RECOVER FROM PERICARIDITIS?
-DOES THE LINING (PERICARDIUM?) REPAIR ITSELF?
-IS THIS AT ALL GENETIC?
-HIS WAS A VIRAL CAUSATION, HOW IS IT TREATED?
THANK YOU,
MARY
Doctor's Answer
by CCF Cardio MD - MTR, Jan 06, 1999 12:00AM
Dear Mary, thank you for your question. Pericarditis is a diverse disease that can be caused by infections (bacterial and viral), connective tissue disorders (like lupus), hypothyroidism, etc. Often, the cause of pericarditis is unknown since the fluid that is collected often doesn't yield a diagnosis. It's quite rare to need a heart transplant after an episode of pericarditis, and other forms of treatment depend on the expected cause. For viral pericarditis, there is no treatment other than supportive care to allow the immune system to fight the viral infections. Most patients commonly recover from pericarditis although the pericardium may form scar tissue to respond to the inflammation from the infection. Usually, there are no residual sequelae from pericarditis. For more specific information, any general medicine or cardiology textbook would be a good resource.
I hope you find this information useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only. Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies. Please feel free to write back with additional questions. Good luck.
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.
