Pericardium is a film that covers the heart of any person. It has two sheets, between which there is liquid, a kind of lubricant, which helps the heart softly and smoothly contract.
Pericardium prevents rapid wear of the heart muscle, helping it to maintain elasticity and elasticity.
prevention measures General information
constrictive pericarditis - a chronic advanced stagepericarditis. It is characterized by the fact that the body can not cope with the removal of fluid from the body, it accumulates in the interlobar zone of the pericardium and squeezes the heart, preventing it from functioning normally and contracting. In such conditions on the most important organ in the human body has a colossal load .
Liquid with time resolves, pericardial walls become denser and become rigid , that is, calcified. Constrictive pericarditis is associated with the appearance of a "carapaceous" heart. In such conditions, it can not be filled with blood and deliver it along the arteries to the internal organs in sufficient quantity.
Constrictive pericarditis - the disease is not very common. In various sources, it is indicated that the bulk of people who have this pathology are men who make up 50% or more of the whole mass of the sick. However, such statistics are not proved, therefore constrictive pericarditis can be considered "publicly available" .
Causes and risk factors
Constrictive pericarditis occurs due to:
- of deep and penetrating wounds to the heart and sternum;
- closed chest injuries;
- of a previous myocardial infarction or other heart diseases.
- infectious diseases, against tuberculosis, rheumatism.
The occurrence of this pathology is also affected by diseases that cause metabolic disorders in the body( gout, renal or hepatic insufficiency, etc.).
The pericarditis group of the species represented is composed of :
- men who underwent various surgical operations at the heart;
- have been in car accidents, fallen from a great height, and also received any blunt chest injuries;
- patients with tuberculosis( risk group constituting the highest percentage of cases);
- suffering from autoimmune diseases( in the case when the body rejects its own tissues, considering them to be foreign);
- who underwent radiation therapy due to oncological diseases;
- possessing increased sensitivity to medicines and substances in their composition.
It is impossible to accurately form the exact number of causes that result in constrictive pericarditis. Sometimes its causes remain unclarified, that is idiopathic, less often there are cases of congenital pathology .Most often the course of this disease has a cycle. Symptoms then appear, then disappear, more clearly expressed only in the terminal phase.
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Danger and consequences
The main danger that this pathology presents is that the disease is very difficult to diagnose. Symptoms are often associated not even with a possible illness, but with , loss of strength, stress, deterioration of health in general and vitamin deficiency.
In the absence of treatment of constrictive pericarditis , the following complications may occur:
- enlargement of the collar zone due to abnormally dilated veins;
- pulmonary edema;
- arrhythmia;
- cardiac arrest( with calcified pericardial tissue the organ can not contract, which inevitably leads to its dysfunction);
- hypervelocity of the abdomen due to the accumulation of a large amount of fluid( its volume can reach 20 liters);
- heart failure.
Possible complications also depend on exactly what constrictive pericarditis takes place - with or without the exudative component: the pericardial with the exudative component continues to accumulate fluid, exerting additional pressure on the heart .In such cases, the onset of the lethal effect increases at times, if the timely diagnosis has not been carried out.
Symptoms and signs
Symptoms of the pathology of very are often not considered as a general picture of the disease .Swelling of the legs, intolerance to physical activity are associated with the wrong way of life, lack of proper nutrition and seasonality. However, the symptoms, if combined, are a typical clinic of the disease.
The main signs of constrictive pericarditis:
- persistent dyspnea;
- decreased appetite;
- sharp weight loss;
- drawing pains in the right hypochondrium;
- pain behind the sternum;
- weakness when performing even minimal physical exertion;
- abdominal enlargement;
- swelling;
- swelling and manifestation of cervical veins.
When the clinical picture is more or less obvious, the is characterized by its specific appearance : a painful thinness and a disproportionately large belly.
To indirect signs of the pathology include:
- cough, accompanied by painful sensations in the sternum( appears only if the lungs stagnate liquid);
- temperature( during the course of inflammatory processes);
- discomfort when swallowing( when more than 1 liter of fluid is accumulated in the pericardium).
Certainly, alarming calls of the presence of constrictive pericarditis can be recognized, if a suspected disease has to undergo a series of diagnostic studies. They will help to exclude or, conversely, determine the degree of development of pathology.
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Diagnosis
Diagnosing or preventing the disease can, given the the following factors:
- heart surgery, injuries, bad habits;
- presence of autoimmune diseases;
- data derived from electrocardiography;
- general examination of the patient and detection of pathological signs;
- presence on chest x-ray of light spots in the region of the heart.
Very often constrictive pericarditis is detected completely by accident : after evaluating the results of a puncture or radiography results( the heart that is in the "imprisonment" of calcified tissue in the picture is the same white as bone).
Diagnostics includes:
- X-ray examination;
- computed tomography;
- electrocardiogram and echocardiography;
- cardiac catheterization;
- laboratory studies.
The heart murmurs of are also a sign of the pathology: they are created by the pericardial petals rubbing against each other. However, if fluid accumulates between the pericardium and the heart, that is, a very neglected case takes place, then wet wheezing in the lungs may be heard instead of noise.
Tactics of treatment
Depending on the stage at which the disease is located, treatment is prescribed.
Initial stage
Medication and restorative therapy. At this stage, the most important task is the withdrawal of excess fluid from the body. Active uses diuretics .
If the nature of the disease is infectious or fungal, antibiotics are often prescribed and, in especially severe cases, steroid preparations. In the presence of autoimmune diseases, vitamins and drugs are prescribed that stimulate immunity and increase its activity.
The following medicines are most commonly prescribed:
- analgesics( Morphine, Tramadol);
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs( Ibuprofen, Diclofenac, Aspirin);
- selective inhibitors( Meloxicam, Lornoxicam).
Initiated
When the disease has passed into a severe and especially severe stage of development, there are no other methods of treatment other than for radical surgical intervention of .If the prescribed drugs do not alleviate the situation, then in such cases pericardectomy is indicated.
The surgical intervention is that the outer pericardial leaflet is completely or partially removed by , allowing the heart to function normally.
It should be remembered that in the treatment of constrictive pericarditis therapy should be aimed not only at removing the damaged tissues of the heart bag, but also in fighting the primary source of the disease.
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Prognosis, rehabilitation and preventive measures
If there is insufficient or ineffective treatment, the prognosis is unfavorable, but if the disease is diagnosed in time, it is possible to hope for a successful resolution of the problem.
To measures for the prevention of constrictive pericarditis include:
- fast and timely treatment of infectious, fungal and purulent diseases;
- elimination of foci of possible infection;
- systematic examination by specialists, and conducting timely studies when symptoms appear;
- prophylaxis of sternum injuries;
- maintenance treatment in the presence of chronic diseases;
- balanced nutrition;
- rejection of bad habits.
After the surgical procedure, the rehabilitation process takes relatively little time: as a rule, after 2.5-3 months the patient can already return to the habitual way of life.
In the first months after treatment, accompanied by positive dynamics, should avoid excessive physical exertion on the heart of , and be under the constant supervision of the attending physician. Subsequently, all procedures will be aimed at preventing the disease.
This video tells more about pericarditis:
Constrictive pericarditis is not a hereditary disease. This pathology will not cause fatal harm to health if it is diagnosed and eliminated in a timely manner.
