Pericardial Effusion - Heart disease

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Pericardial Effusion
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Pericardial Effusion

• Pericardial Effusion is considered the
  accumulation and collection of excess fluid
  around the heart which restricts it from
  performing its function in an effective manner.
  The heart is surrounded by a double-layered
  sac-like structure which is called the
  pericardium. The space between the layers
  normally contains a very small amount of fluid
  which helps in filling up the space left between
  them. Pericardial effusion is normally related
  to the inflammation of the pericardium that might
  occur due to any disease or injury but this
  problem might also occur without inflammation.
  Sometimes pericardial effusion can also be caused
  due to the accumulation of blood after a surgical
  procedure or injury done in the past. As the
  volume of this fluid is present in excess around
  the pericardium, the problem of pericardial
  effusion occurs as it puts pressure on the heart
  and further leads to poor functioning of the
  heart. If this problem is left untreated and a
  doctor is not visited, the problem might lead to
  heart failure and might prove to be fatal in some
  cases.

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Causes of the problem of pericardial effusion

• Inflammation of the pericardium (Pericarditis)
  is in response to a disease, injury or an
  inflammatory disorder that affects the
  pericardium. Pericardial effusion is a sign of
  this inflammatory response. Pericardial effusion
  may also occur when the flow of pericardial
  fluids is blocked or when blood gets accumulated
  within the pericardium. It's not clear how some
  diseases contribute to pericardial effusion, and
  sometimes, the cause of this problem cannot be
  identified by the doctors. However, some of the
  specific causes of this problem are  
• Autoimmune disorders which include lupus or
  rheumatoid arthritis
• Viral, fungal, bacterial or parasitic infections

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Causes of the problem of pericardial effusion
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• Inflammation of pericardium following heart
  surgery or heart attacks which is also known as
  Dresslers syndrome
• Patient who are suffering from HIV or AIDS
• Spreading of cancer particularly, breast cancer,
  lung cancer, leukemia and also melanoma
• Treatment of chemotherapy for cancer

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Symptoms

• Talking about the symptoms of this problem The
  below mentioned are the symptoms of pericardial
  effusion which one should know in order to get
  treated on time.Often fainting or dizziness.
• Shortness of breath or getting difficulty in
  breathing which is normally known as dyspnea.
• Getting problem in breathing when one is lying
  which is also known as orthopnea.
• Experiencing of rapid heart rate.
• Persistent cough.
• Regular low grade fever.

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Symptoms
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• Getting pain in the chest and normally behind the
  breast bone or also on the left side of the chest
  which might get worse as the patient breathes.
  This problem gets better when the patient sits
  down and relaxes for some time.
• Painful breathing especially when the patient is
  lying down or taking deep breathes.
• A feeling of anxiety all the time.
• There are also cases in which the patient
  experiences significant pericardial effusion
  symptoms and with no signs or symptoms,
  particularly if the fluid has increased slowly.
  But it is very important to know about the
  disease in a proper manner.

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Treatments

• Diagnosis of problem of Pericardial
  Effusion One of the best ways for the
  identification of the problem of Pericardial
  Effusion is getting regular medical checkups and
  tests done. In addition, other kinds of tests
  with the help of which one can diagnose this
  problem include echocardiogram and x rays of the
  chest. There are also some other tests through
  which this problem can be diagnosed but these
  tests are recommended and prescribed by the
  doctors and only with the prescription, these
  tests will be performed.

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