Hey docs: Pericardial effusion
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A buddy of mine is in the hospital for this. Apparently they're dealing with the problem okay, but he's looking for a little more info since it's been a little scant at the ER. (Big surprise.)
Any of you know much about this? He's been reading a ton of WebMD and Wikipedia stuff but of course that kind of information is only so helpful.
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Multiple causes of pericardial effusion - everything from "It'll pass" to "Get your affairs in order" in terms of seriousness.
Infection (a viral myocarditis) can cause it, and in the younger population, that's what I'd guess is the cause.
More serious things include metastatic cancer, heart failure, trauma. Autoimmune diseases.
Remember, a pericardial effusion is a result of another process, not the primary process. You gotta rule out what is causing it.
Cleveland clinic has a good explanation:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17351-pericardial-effusion
My experience with it has been in cases where a (usually urgent) trip to the OR is required to remove the fluid because it's causing a tamponade - it's "compressing" the heart so that it can't pump. These people can be very, very sick. And once the fluid is removed they get better very very quickly.
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Thanks, George. No real bad underlying conditions, and he is getting better pretty fast, but they're telling him he'll need to change his diet going forward. They haven't been more specific.
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Thanks, George. No real bad underlying conditions, and he is getting better pretty fast, but they're telling him he'll need to change his diet going forward. They haven't been more specific.
@Aqua-Letifer said in Hey docs: Pericardial effusion:
No real bad underlying conditions, and he is getting better pretty fast, but they're telling him he'll need to change his diet going forward.
If I had to guess, some kind of infection.
I fail to see the importance of a dietary change, unless there's underlying heart disease or hypertension that they want to treat.
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@Aqua-Letifer said in Hey docs: Pericardial effusion:
No real bad underlying conditions, and he is getting better pretty fast, but they're telling him he'll need to change his diet going forward.
If I had to guess, some kind of infection.
I fail to see the importance of a dietary change, unless there's underlying heart disease or hypertension that they want to treat.
@George-K said in Hey docs: Pericardial effusion:
@Aqua-Letifer said in Hey docs: Pericardial effusion:
No real bad underlying conditions, and he is getting better pretty fast, but they're telling him he'll need to change his diet going forward.
If I had to guess, some kind of infection.
I fail to see the importance of a dietary change, unless there's underlying heart disease or hypertension that they want to treat.
Gotcha. Thanks a ton.
