Table of Contents
What is the most common cause of acute pericarditis?
Viral infection is the most common cause of acute pericarditis and accounts for 1-10% of cases. The disease is usually a short self-limited disease that lasts 1-3 weeks and can occur as seasonal epidemics, especially coxsackievirus B and influenza.
What is the main cause of pericarditis?
Pericarditis may be caused by infection, autoimmune disorders, inflammation after a heart attack, chest injury, cancer, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), kidney failure, medical treatments (such as certain medicines or radiation therapy to the chest), or heart surgery.
How do you get acute pericarditis?
What causes pericarditis?
- Viral pericarditis is caused by a complication of a viral infection, most often a gastrointestinal virus.
- Bacterial pericarditis is caused by a bacterial infection, including tuberculosis.
- Fungal pericarditis is caused by a fungal infection.
What causes pericarditis to flare up?
Causes of Chronic Pericarditis , such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus), a previous injury, or a bacterial infection. was the most common cause of chronic pericarditis in the United States, but today tuberculosis accounts for only 2% of cases.
Can pericarditis be caused by stress?
Stress cardiomyopathy (CMP) has been described as a complication of post-myocardial infarction pericarditis (Dressler syndrome). Stress CMP can also be complicated by pericarditis. We describe the novel observation where idiopathic pericarditis is the primary disease, which precipitated stress CMP.
Who is most likely to get pericarditis?
Who is at risk for pericarditis? Pericarditis affects people of all ages, but men ages 16 to 65 are more likely to develop it. Among those treated for acute pericarditis, up to 30% may experience the condition again, with a small number eventually developing chronic pericarditis.
What are the potential causes risk factors for pericarditis?
Pericarditis causes & risk factors
- A past heart attack.
- Autoimmune diseases.
- Trauma or injury from an accident.
- Certain bacterial, viral and fungal infections.
- Kidney failure.
- Rarely, certain medications such as phenytoin to treat seizures and procainamide to treat irregular heartbeats.
How do you cure pericarditis?
Treatment
- Pain relievers. Pericarditis pain can usually be treated with over-the-counter pain relievers, such as aspirin or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others).
- Colchicine (Colcrys, Mitigare). This drug reduces inflammation in the body.
- Corticosteroids. Corticosteroids are strong medications that fight inflammation.
Is acute pericarditis serious?
Pericarditis causes chest pain and a high temperature. It’s not usually serious, but it can cause serious health problems. Get medical advice if you have chest pain.
Who is prone to pericarditis?
Can pericarditis heal itself?
Pericarditis is often mild and goes away on its own. Some cases, if not treated, can lead to chronic pericarditis and serious problems that affect your heart. It can take weeks or months to recover from pericarditis.