Hydropericardium( dropsy of the heart): symptoms, causes, treatment

Delayed fluid in tissues is called edema or dropsy. If the excess fluid is collected in the atrial shirt, then it is a hydropericardium. A phenomenon requiring attention and urgent examination of the state of health. About treatment and the causes of the origin of hydropericardia in the fetus, in a newborn child, in an adult we will tell in this material.

Features of the disease

The heart has a protective bag. It protects the body from displacement and overstretching under loads. The protective device is called the pericardium. It consists of two petals, between which a small amount of special liquid is present for lubrication. The normal volume of lubrication is 20 ÷ 60 ml.

There are a number of reasons that trigger an increase in the amount of fluid( transudate) in the pericardium. This dangerous trend can not be neglected, it is necessary to go to a consultation with a specialist.

About hydropericardium with a small and large amount of fluid, small and moderate, other forms of the disease and its treatment read below.

You can judge what the hydropericardium is by the following video:

Stages and forms of

The cases of hydropericardium are distinguished by the amount of transudate in the space between the atrial sac sheets:

• large number - exceeds 500 ml,
• moderate presence of liquid - from 100 to500 ml,
• the amount of liquid is insignificant - not more than 100 ml.

The amount of excess fluid determines the extent to which the pericardium leaves diverge. In the normal state, this parameter should be no more than five millimeters.

The following species are classified as hydropericardium:

• chylopericard - lymph accumulates between the pericardial lobes;
• Haemopericardium - cases of being in the pericardium of the blood.

Hydropericardium is divided into stages:

• marked manifestation of the disease - over 20 mm;
• moderate deviation from the norm - between 10 and 20 mm;
• the initial stage of the disease, when the size of the divergence of the petals is between 6 and 10 mm.

Causes of

The phenomenon can trigger diseases:

• allergic reactions,
• heart failure is one of the main causes of the appearance of excess fluid in the body cavities, including in the atrial shirt;this indicates a serious stage of the disease;
• heart surgery can provoke hydropericardia due to inflammation or an operating infection;Also, the appearance of hemopericardium due to bleeding is not ruled out;
• anorexia,
• trauma of the heart makes the vessels in this area more permeable, so the liquid part of the blood seeps out of the bloodstream and gathers in the pericardium;
• congestion,
• anemia,
• kidney pathology,
• depletion,
• inflammatory disease,
• cases of a congenital left diverticulum divider,
• if the pericardial cavity and peritoneal space have a direct message,
• myxedema,
• of the mediastinal tumor.

Also, hydropericardium can occur due to such factors:

• as a consequence of the use of vasodilators,
• of advanced age,
• pregnancy,
• can trigger the use of radiotherapy.

Symptoms and signs of hydropericardia

Exceeding the norm of the fluid content in the pericardial bag creates difficulties in the work of the heart, depending on the stage of the disease, it is possible to squeeze the chambers and complexity with their relaxation.

Hydropericardium manifests itself with such signs:

• chest pain,
• venous pressure is prone to increase,
• lower extremities swell,
• in the chest at inclinations is felt discomfort,
• attacks of suffocation,
• underpressure,
• face and hands take a puffy appearance,
• the pulse becomes more frequent,
• if the excess of the fluid content in the pericardium differs significantly from the norm, cardiac tamponade can occur;this situation is able to initiate cardiac insufficiency of acute form.

Diagnosis

To determine the diagnosis, a specialist analyzes the symptoms of the disease and conducts a survey:

• Echocardiography is a method that has the ability to give a lot of information about the problem:
  • to measure the amount of the transudate between the pericardial walls,
  • to determine the stage of the disease.
• Assays:
  • biochemical blood test,
  • is a clinical blood and urine test.
• The condition of the chest organs helps to see the method of radiography.
• If echocardiography showed that the hydropericardium is in a pronounced stage, then the diagnostic measures include pericardial puncture.

About whether the hydropericardium itself passes from the fetus, the child and the adult, and also how to treat it, we will tell below.

Treatment of

Specialists choose methods of treatment depending on the stage of the disease. If the excess of the amount of fluid from the volume accepted for the norm is small, then the patient is not prescribed treatment measures, but only observes the condition, or conservative treatment is performed.

How to treat pericarditis with hydropericardia, Elena Malysheva will tell in her video:

Therapeutic and medicamentous

The treatment program for each patient is made individually. The main goal - to remove the root cause, which triggered cardiac edema.

The patient is recommended to take a medical course in a hospital. The program aims to block the disease, which caused cardiac edema. The use of therapeutic agents with hydropericardium involves the use of diuretic drugs.

Operation

At the last stage of the disease, the patient is prescribed pericardial puncture. This procedure is performed under the supervision of echocardiography.

The purpose of the event is both therapeutic and diagnostic. The volume of fluid in the pericardium decreases. The material taken during the procedure is sent for examination.

Folk methods

You can reduce the amount of cardiac edema by applying folk recipes. Before this should get a specialist consultation.

• Add 30 grams of black elder roots to a liter of water, boil until only half the water volume is left. Two months continuously drink a decoction before meals in the amount of 150 g.
• In the morning on an empty stomach, you can use a tincture of 125 g per reception, prepared as follows: in the white wine( 2 liters) add the zhurna( 0.5 kg), dried leaves of bitter wormwoodhandfuls) and insist the mixture ten days;to get the ashes of Zharnov it is collected at the time of flowering, dried and burned.
• If you use red elder, then use bark. Two days insist it in the amount of 200 grams per liter of white wine. Take a tincture of 100 grams per day.
• You can use the bark of red elderberry and in the form of a decoction. To do this, boil half a hour in a liter of water, two handfuls of raw materials.

Prevention

Timely treatment of pathologies that are capable of provoking cardiac edema will be a good preventive against the appearance of hydropericardium.

Complications of

The development of cardiac tamponade refers to the dangerous phenomena associated with the increase of the transudate. This occurs with a significant amount of fluid between the membranes of the pericardium - more than 500 ml.

The heart can not normally perform its functions, becomes clamped. Chambers are not able to fully do the pumping of blood, in their work they have difficulty with relaxation.

As a result, cardiac insufficiency develops in acute form, which is accompanied by symptoms:

• tachycardia,
• increasing weakness,
• severe dyspnea,
• arterial pressure may drop dramatically,
• in the patient develops a fear of death,
• has psychomotor agitation,
• feels heaviness in chest,
• is a cold sweat.

Forecast

Since hydropericardia appears as a consequence of a number of diseases, the prognosis will also depend on these primary disorders.

As far as a disease that initiates cardiac edema can be cured, the conclusion about the possibility of getting rid of its consequences in the form of hydropericardium will be so positive.