Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
It consists of fever, pleuritic pain, pericarditis and/or pericardial effusion. Dressler syndrome is also known as postmyocardial infarction syndrome [1] and the term is sometimes used to refer to post-pericardiotomy pericarditis. It was first characterized by William Dressler at Maimonides Medical Center in 1956. [2] [3] [4]
The inflammation may reach out and affect the heart sac. This is called pericarditis. In Dressler's syndrome, this occurs several weeks after the initial event. If pericarditis were to persist, pericardial effusion may also occur which could in turn lead to cardiac tamponade if not properly treated. [2]
Although no current drug on the market prevents post-pericardiotomy syndrome, colchicine seems to provide an effective and safe way to treat pericarditis by reducing inflammation. [6] Colchicine is a natural product extracted from plants, and is a secondary metabolite (an organic compound not directly related to growth and development in an ...
Focused assessment with sonography in trauma (commonly abbreviated as FAST) is a rapid bedside ultrasound examination performed by surgeons, emergency physicians, and paramedics as a screening test for blood around the heart (pericardial effusion) or abdominal organs (hemoperitoneum) after trauma.
Symptoms of hemopericardium often include difficulty breathing, abnormally rapid breathing, and fatigue, each of which can be a sign of a serious medical condition not limited to hemopericardium. [6] In many cases, patients also report feeling chest pressure and have an abnormally elevated heart rate .
Other symptoms of pericarditis may include dry cough, fever, fatigue, and anxiety. [citation needed] Due to its similarity to the pain of myocardial infarction (heart attack), pericarditis can be misdiagnosed as a heart attack. Acute myocardial infarction can also cause pericarditis, but the presenting symptoms often differ enough to warrant ...
The pericardium, the double-walled sac surrounding the heart, consists of a fibrous pericardium layer on the outside and a double-layered serous pericardium on the inside. [18] Between the two layers of the serous pericardium is the pericardial space, which is filled with lubricating serous fluid that prevents friction as the heart contracts. [19]
The other 10–20% of acute pericarditis cases have various causes including connective tissue diseases (e.g., systemic lupus erythematosus), cancer, or involve an inflammatory reaction of the pericardium following trauma to the heart such as after a heart attack such as Dressler's syndrome. [2]