Inflammation of the pericardium or mucosa of the heart can be chronic and acute.

Acute, which is most often caused by a viral infection, can be very painful and the symptoms are similar to a heart attack.

Healing from viral pericarditis occurs in one to three weeks.

Pericarditis or inflammation of the pericardium has several causes.

The most common is viral, but it can also be bacterial, which means that any infection can affect the pericardium.

The pericardium is a flexible, two-layer elastic sac that wraps around the heart.

There is enough lubricating fluid between the two layers of the pericardium so that the layers of the pericardium can slide easily on top of each other, KP reports.

The pericardium keeps the heart in the right position, prevents the heart from filling with blood, and protects it from chest infections.

However, the pericardium is not vital, if it is surgically removed there are no significant consequences.

Causes of inflammation

Viral infection is generally benign, patients often do not even know they have it, but pericardial effusion can be seen with ultrasound.

Under normal circumstances, there is a gap of one millimeter between the sheath and the heart muscle and when inflammation occurs two to three centimeters, and is caused by an inflammatory reaction.

The viruses that cause meningitis may be the same as those that cause sore throats, but if the immune system is weakened, they can cross normal barriers and enter the heart or brain and lungs.

The infection usually passes spontaneously without antibiotic therapy, unlike viral, bacterial inflammation of the lining of the heart can be dangerous because it has the potential to turn into chronic pericarditis.

Bacterial inflammation when it passes can form the so-called 'protected heart' which means that the pericardium ceases to be elastic and rigid and in more severe cases requires surgical intervention.

Bacterial pericardial infection is serious and requires antibiotic therapy.

and monitoring (when the kidneys cannot excrete harmful substances from the body sufficiently) is one of the common causes of pericarditis.

It is common in patients on dialysis or in people who do not know they have kidney problems.

It also appears in malignant diseases like pancreatic cancer and lung cancer causing pericardial effusion.

When the cause of pericardial inflammation is not clear enough, a biopsy is done to determine if it is viral, bacterial inflammation, and if there are tumor cells in the fluid.

But mostly the inflammation of the lining of the heart is viral and the symptoms go away on their own.

(Photo: Mayo Clinic)

Some other causes of pericarditis:

AIDS

heart attack (myocardial infarction)

heart intervention

systemic lupus

rheumatoid disease

renal insufficiency

injury

radiation

taking medications (penicillin, procainamide, phenytoin and phenylbutazone)

Symptoms of chronic pericarditis include shortness of breath, cough, and fatigue.

Diuretics can reduce the symptoms, but the only real treatment is surgical removal of the sheath.

Although it is possible to live without a holster, the operation itself is dangerous and it is difficult for patients to decide on it.