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Pericardial diseases
Pericardial diseases
My patients at Balaji heart center,Mrs Rama and Mr Giri came that evening ,not for their BP treatment but for enquiring...
Mrs Rama started the conversation by asking " Dr Balaji , my brother at USA was diagnosed with Pericarditis and our neighbor is admitted yesterday with similar diagnosis but he had fluid too around the heart which needed removal through a needle... what's this Pericardial diseases.. because you are the best cardiologist in BHEL area, we wanted to know from you..."
I started by telling them that Pericardium is a layer around the heart and holds heart like a sac..it facilitates the movement of the the heart friction free and also prevents infection spreading to the heart among few other jobs it does...
Then what went wrong with her brother,Mr Giri enquired..I said " Pericarditis or the inflammation of the layer causes chest pain ,which also can be felt at back, shoulder tip and can worsen with breathing”
" Yes I was also told that the night before visiting the Dr,my brother was sitting bolt upright " Mrs Rama interrupted me.." True " I continued " they feel worse while lying on the bed and they can have fever and breathing problem".. " initially the Doctor at Emergency thought it's heart attack" Mr Giri said
" Yes ,apart from chest pain which resembles heart attack, ECG have many similarities..it's easy to get confused"
“But being the best cardiologist in Madinaguda area, you could have diagnosed faster" the couple had so much faith in me...
" Apart from ECG,the heart Echo scan,chest x-ray ,CT scan of the chest are needed for the diagnosis" I said..
" Then why her brother was discharged soon with medications but our neighbor needed a small surgery"
" When significant fluid accumulates between heart and Pericardium- rather the sac becomes a bag of fluid,it can inhibit the filling of the heart - the condition called Pericardial effusion" " during such kind of large effusions ,we insert a needle from below the chest into the fluid filled Pericardial sac and let out the water to get the heart going strong again"
" Wow, you doctors are really great" complimented the couple.
" Apart from infections- may be bacterial or viral including the common TB or Tuberculosis ,Rheumatic fever ,other diseases like heart attack, cancers, radiation and even chest injury due to trauma, surgery or accidents can cause similar problems..."
" so any acute chest pain ,we shouldn't neglect and has to see the best cardiology clinic in chandanagar , your Balaji heart center?" Mrs Rama wanted to conclude.
" No ,the disease can last for many weeks too if not treated properly at the right time and can cause what's called Chronic Constrictive Pericarditis which requires a complicated major surgery to peel off the layer adhered to the heart "
" Thanks,we learned lot about the Pericardial diseases...and I conclude that we should see the doctor as early as possible if anyone suffers from chest pain to prevent a life threatening condition which if delayed can
lead to major heart surgery too.we will send our neighbor to the best
cardiologist in Hyderabad.. that's you"
I smiled...
