I have had idiopathic recurrent pericarditis about 2 years. Before that I was parfectly healty 48 female. My doctors tried "wait-and-see", anti-inflammatory drugs, Prednisone, colchicine, colchicine+anti-inflammatory medication. The last combination seems to work best, but I still get pain very easy. I have had EKG, echo several times, MRI and some laboratory tests. There is always some extra inflammation in the paricardial sac, why it's still there? I can't exhaust me, the pain becames back. I feel it also for example when I lay myself down. I have had pericrditis 4 times before and every time it went away "itself".
My cardiologist suggest surgery. In what cases docs do "only" pericardial "window" and when they take all pericardial sac away? Do the heart get easier bacterias etc. because the sac is away? Where does inflammation goes afterwards or stop the heart forming it altogether? The pericardial sac somekind softens heartbeat, after taking it away, will I feel my heartbeat lauder for the rest of my life?
I hope my medication helps me forward, I have taken the last combination about 5 months now. How soon doctors usually suggest somekind of surgery? And how safe those surgeries are?