Pericardium is the thin lining which will always protect your heart. Protecting this protective lining of your heart is very much important in order to prevent certain acute or chronic heart diseases.
When this protective layer gets rubbed or if comes in contact with the outer layer of your heart repeatedly, then it results in pericarditis.
Inflammation to this protective layer, pericardium, can result in pericarditis.
It is mostly associated with irritation or swelling of the protective layer that surrounds your heart and as a result you can experience chest pain [Heart conditions responsible for endocarditis].
Infection to the protective layer is the main cause for pericarditis
In general, the two layered pericardial sac that surrounds your heart usually contains with small amounts of lubricating fluid. When this sac of protective layer becomes infected, this inflammation of the pericardium results in friction between layered sac structure and the outer layer of your heart. As a result, you can experience a chest pain and several other signs of pericarditis.
The main cause for pericarditis is very hard to determine and in most cases doctors fail to determine either the exact cause for the infection or fail to suspect any viral infection.
Pericarditis can be developed in a very short period of time after a major heart attack, which can be caused due to irritation of the underlying damaged or infected muscle of your heart. Sometimes, you can experience pericarditis after several weeks of your heart surgery or heart attack. This delayed form of pericarditis is known as Dressler’s syndrome.
Some of the medications used in the treatment of your health conditions can also trigger the inflammation of the pericardium. Certain cells of the tumors present in other parts of your body occasionally trigger the infection of pericardium.
Early diagnosis of the inflammation can protect the protective layer!
The most common symptom associated with pericarditis is a stabbing chest pain behind your breast bone. Some times, it becomes difficult to identify the chest pain caused due to pericarditis and the pain caused due to regular heart attack.
Try to identify the inflammation of the pericardium in the early stages and whenever you suspect this inflammation, immediately consult your doctor to check whether the pain is caused due to inflammation or due to heart attack.
