Carapace - the diagnosis in medicine is officially called pericarditis. This is a disease in which the pericardial sac, that is, the tissue that covers the main organ of the human body, is primarily affected. The cause of this problem is more often in infection, the consequences of a heart attack or rheumatism. Pericarditis is characterized by painful sensations that are activated during inspiration, as well as coughing, weakness.
General view
The carapace of the heart is often accompanied by sweating of the fluid volumes generated between the sheets of tissue. With this form of the disease, a person suffers from pronounced shortness of breath. The form is considered extremely dangerous, since it provokes purulent processes and can cause tamponade, that is, a condition where blood vessels, cardiac muscle tissue are transmitted by volumes of accumulated fluid. If this form is detected, often the only way of treatment is emergency surgery.
Carapace is a disease associated with inflammatory processes caused by other health problems. Often, pericarditis indicates cardiac inflammation, an infectious agent, or systemic inflammatory processes. Pathology can develop with a violation of the functionality of an organ or as a result of an injury.
Curious moments
Despite the fact that the shell-shaped heart is usually triggered by various causes, this disease is often the most important for doctors, while other features of a person’s health status are only secondary, since they are less dangerous. It is known that in about 6% of patients with pericarditis, the disease was identified only posthumously. A similar pathology can overtake at any age, although the risk group is adults and the elderly. Among the female half of the world's population, the problem occurs with a greater frequency than the opposite sex.
Often, pericarditis affects the serous membrane of the main organ of our body. In this situation, the serous form is diagnosed, and the tissues become permeable to blood, and the vessels through which it flows expand. White blood cells penetrate into the immediate areas, fibrin is deposited, adhesions, scars form, and pericardial sheets accumulate calcium. All this is accompanied by an increase in pressure on the heart and leads to a rather serious condition of the patient.
Where did the trouble come from?
With regard to the carapace, the causes of pathology are currently divided into two groups: infection and the aseptic pathway of the disease. Most often, pathology is provoked by tuberculosis, rheumatism. In the first embodiment, cases of the movement of an infectious agent from the lungs along streams with lymph into different tissues of the body are known. This can cause damage to the heart membrane. The disease is somewhat similar to allergies, while the process is infectious.
Rheumatism is such a reason for the formation of the carapace of the heart when two tissue layers simultaneously suffer simultaneously: myocardium and endocardium.
When is the danger higher?
Carapace is a disease provoked by a variety of factors, but doctors have established several of them that significantly increase the likelihood of developing a pathology. The first thing to mention is infection. Measles, flu, and various bacteria that can cause tonsillitis, scarlet fever, and concomitant tuberculosis are dangerous. Often pericarditis is observed with blood poisoning, infection with parasites, fungi. Inflammation can spread to the pericardium from areas located nearby. Such a danger is associated with pneumonia, endocarditis, pleurisy. The agent enters the pericardium through lymph or blood.
You can find on the roentgenogram a shell-like heart with an allergic reaction associated with medications, as well as with serum sickness. The likelihood of such a pathology is higher in people suffering from heart diseases, injuries of this organ, malignant neoplasms and metabolic problems. Particularly dangerous are toxic components, the production of which is associated with gout, uremia.
What to look for?
The shell-shaped heart is a condition that often accompanies radiation injuries, therefore, persons exposed to radiation should be especially attentive to their health in general, the heart muscle in particular. The increased danger is hidden by malformations of the heart membrane, including diverticula, cysts.
Also at risk are people suffering from connective tissue diseases. This is the rheumatism mentioned above, arthritis of a similar nature, as well as systemic lupus. There are many cases of armored hearts in people suffering from blood flow disorders, a tendency to swelling, since these conditions provoke the accumulation of fluid in the pericardial sheets.
Disease: what happens?
Carapace is a combined concept that includes several subtypes of pathology. Classical division involves the diagnosis of a primary, secondary form associated with lesions of the lungs, heart tissues, other internal systems and organs. In some patients, problems are diagnosed in a limited form, when only the heart base is covered, in others, a partial form is revealed. There is a likelihood of a general development of pericarditis, when the entire pericardium is fully involved in negative processes.
The clinical picture allows us to talk about a chronic or acute form of the disease. Sharp options lasting up to six months are especially dangerous. They develop rapidly, differ in severe symptoms.
About varieties
As can be seen from the photo presented in abundance on the World Wide Web, the shell-like heart is often found in fibrinous form. Pathology is provoked by overflow of blood in the heart membrane. Fibrin sweats in the pericardial cavity, but fluids in the study of the organ are found in a fairly small amount.
The exudative form of pericarditis is associated with the accumulation of rather large fluid volumes. The hemorrhagic form associated with scurvy, tuberculosis, which caused inflammatory processes in the heart muscle, is isolated. Fibrinous serous is a form when the discharge is mixed, plastic and liquid. If a pathology is detected at an early stage, when a small amount of secretions is accumulated, with the right choice of a treatment program, there is an option of complete resorption of the contents of the cavity.
And what else?
Carapace can be purulent, associated with tamponade, or develop in the absence thereof. They say tamponade when fluid accumulates in the pericardial cavity, leading to an increase in pressure in the pericardial fissure. This disrupts the functionality of the heart muscle.
Chronic course
Such forms progress slowly, lasting more than six months. It is the people who have identified such a pathology, most often think about whether the armored heart is being treated. Indeed, the disease is slow and difficult enough, and the features of its therapy are such that it is not easy to tolerate treatment.
Exudative form and adhesive are distinguished. The second is usually caused by previously transferred pericarditis, when the inflammation passes into a productive form associated with the formation of scar tissue. The sheets of the heart membrane stick together, solder together or with tissues located nearby. With the adhesive form, sometimes the symptoms of a shell-like heart are almost imperceptible, since blood circulation is not disturbed. However, such situations are also frequent when the activity of the heart muscle substantially suffers from the pathological process. Calcium salts can accumulate in the altered tissues, sometimes extracardial adhesions are fixed.
Continuing the topic
In some patients, pericarditis is fixed in a constructive form. With this flow, the leaves sprout to fibrous tissues, become places of calcium deposition. The heart membrane is compacted, the organ chambers can be filled with blood only in a limited volume. This leads to stagnation of fluid in the veins.
Often the chronic form develops according to the principle of pearl mussel. This is most often associated with tuberculosis as the primary source of the inflammatory agent. Granulomas of inflammation spread throughout the serous heart membrane.
Symptoms of the disease
Pericarditis in different cases is manifested by a variety of symptoms, depending not only on the form, but also on the stage of the disease. Much is determined by what kind of liquid accumulates in the cavity, how quickly free volumes are filled, how actively commissures are formed. The acute form is often associated with a dry subspecies of the disease, which changes over time due to fluid accumulation.
Dry pericarditis can be suspected by pain in the heart, noise. The pain syndrome is dull, as if crushing, the background is felt in the shoulders, neck, shoulder blade on the left. The pains are mostly moderate, less often painful, similar to angina pectoris, but gradually increasing, lasting for hours and even days. With pericarditis, nitroglycerin is not beneficial, and narcotic painkillers give only a short-term effect. Many complain of frequent palpitations, shortness of breath, coughing. The general condition of a person is poor, weakness is felt. Manifestations are similar to pleurisy in dry form. With a deep breath, the pain syndrome intensifies. Similar sensations accompany swallowing, coughing, a change in body position. You can slightly weaken sensations if you sit, but when lying on your back, the syndrome becomes more active. The patient breathes shallowly, often.
Exudation form: some features
It is possible to suspect a shell-like heart of such a variety if previously there was dry pericarditis or a malignant neoplasm, tuberculosis, and allergy have developed. The patient feels heart pains, in the chest, as if something is constraining. Over time, blood flow is disturbed, shortness of breath, dysphagia, hiccups, and fever appear. Face, neck swell, chest in front, too, veins swell on the neck. The skin turns pale, the gaps between the ribs are smoothed.
What to do?
Treatment of shell-shaped heart at home is categorically impossible. The doctor determines the therapeutic course, focusing on the detected form of pathology. In acute pericarditis, the elimination of symptoms will be optimal, for which aspirin and other drugs that can stop the inflammatory process are prescribed. To relieve pain, analgesics are prescribed, potassium, medications that normalize metabolic processes are additionally prescribed.
The acute exudative form requires approximately the same approach with constant monitoring of blood flow quality. Exudation volumes are regularly checked, the patient's condition is monitored in order to notice signs of cardiac tamponade in time.
Alternative approach
If the disease is provoked by a bacterial infection, a purulent form is detected, you should undergo a course of treatment with antimicrobial drugs. Select a specific program, after identifying what the infection agents are sensitive to. If pericarditis is provoked by tuberculosis, it is necessary to undergo a six-month treatment (sometimes longer) with special drugs for tuberculosis. Usually they combine several items at once (up to three). If a tumor is detected, urgent administration of a special medication is required directly into the pericardium.
Secondary form
With this option, the carapace is treated with glucocorticoids. Proper use of the drug provokes the resorption of exudate. The therapy is most effective if the disease is provoked by an allergy, systemic pathology.
If exudate accumulates very quickly, cardiac puncture is required to prevent tamponade. The doctor removes the accumulated volumes. Sometimes such an event is required if the resorption process is too slow (half a month or more). When examining a puncture, specialists can more accurately establish the primary cause of pericarditis.