chest pains possibly pericarditis

My husband is 59 years old.  At 40 he had a mammary artery byass because of 70% blockage in the LAD.  He was not a candidate for ballon dilation because of the location of the blockage.  He has been fine all these years.

Last month he had chest pains and a catheterization showed  mammary bypass was still open, but blockage was found in 2 smaller left arteries, and 2 cypher stents were successfully implanted.  The problem is that his chest pains did not go away.  The cardiologist says the heart images show blood is flowing freely, but now believes my husband has an inflammation of the heart which he has called a type of  pericarditis.  No

[CCF-M.D.-RCJ]

Pat,

Thanks for the post.  Sorry to read of your ordeal.

Unfortunately, I cannot render a useful opinion about whether or not the diagnosis of pericarditis is correct or not without seeing your husband.  It certainly is possible.  Some of the symptoms are suggestive of pericarditis: better with leaning forward, increasing with inspiration, and the constant nature of the pain.  On the other hand, the absence of a "rub" and the pressure-like nature argue for coronary artery disease.

An echo might help, as might a therapeutic trial of steroids or indomethacin or colchicine.  If these meds don't help, I would seriously re-evaluate the possibility of pericarditis.

Hope that helps.

[Emmaj]

I experienced pericarditis out of nowhere about 7 years after bypass surgery. It lasted about six months. I was treated with Indocin (Indomethicin), and it did help very much. You didn't mention this, but I think it is common for pericarditis to bother a person more when he or she is lying down. Best of luck to you and your husband!

[BillCBeach]

We appreciate the doctor's reponse and the latest comment.  It helps to hear from others who have had similar problems.  My husband's pain is not worse when he lies down.   He was some better today, but he is only 3 days on the switch of med to Vioxx, guess we have to give it more time.  If he is not better in a week we will definitely ask his doctor for echo.

The frustrating thing is his symptoms do not seem to exactly match any we have read for pericarditis.  Also, no one seems to have heard of doctor prescribing Celebrex or Vioxx for this. Of course we'd say no problem if it worked.  How long did you have to take Indocin?  Thanks again for your comments.

[Emmaj]

I took Indocin for about six months ... it is a while ago now, and it's hard to remember. Have you done a search on "pericarditis" in the archives here? I remember reading some interesting posts about pericarditis but that was back aways too.
Sorry I can't be of more help!

[BillCBeach]

O.K. I tried to comment again and it didn't go, so hope this isn't posted twice:  Yes, we read this web archives for pericarditis, and searched the internet also to the "Nth" degree! :) ha!  

At least  we found this forum and kind people like you.   Thanks for your reply that you took your meds about 6 months. Glad you are fine now.