Pericarditis is inflammation of the pericardium, leading to symptoms such as chest pain, fever, and shortness of breath. It can be categorized into types including acute, chronic, and recurrent pericarditis. Diagnosis typically involves ECG, echocardiogram, and blood tests to assess inflammation.

1. TOPIC: Pericarditis
MODULE 1: Cardiovascular and
Respiratory System
Bisma amin
Assistant professor
Radiology and imaging technology

2. LEARNING OUTCOME
OF THE TOPIC
• Identify the symptoms and clinical
manifestations of Pericarditis, Valvular
diseases, Rheumatic Heart Disease,
Heart Failure, Chronic Bronchitis,
Emphysema & Bronchitis.

3. Pericardium
 Your pericardium is a fluid-filled sac that
surrounds your heart and the roots of the
major blood vessels that extend from your
heart.
 Your pericardium is located in your chest,
where it surrounds your heart.
 Some functions of pericardium are:
 Cushioning your heart from outside
forces and pressure.
 Holding your heart in place.
 Keeping your heart from expanding
too much
 Protecting your heart from infections.
 Providing lubrication to reduce friction
between your heart and surrounding
tissues.

4. Introduction
 Pericarditis is swelling and irritation of the
thin, saclike tissue surrounding the heart,
called pericardium.
 Pericarditis often causes sharp chest pain.
 The chest pain occurs when the irritated
layers of the pericardium rub against each
other.
 Pericarditis often is mild. It may go away
without treatment

5. Symptoms
 Chest pain is the most common symptom of
pericarditis
 Most often, pericarditis pain is felt behind
the breastbone or on the left side of the
chest.
 Cough.
 Fatigue or general feeling of weakness or
being sick.
 Swelling of the legs or feet.
 Low-grade fever.
 Pounding or racing heartbeat, also called
heart palpitations.
 Shortness of breath when lying down.
 Swelling of the belly, also called the
abdomen.

6. Types
 Acute pericarditis: It begins suddenly but
doesn't last longer than four weeks.
• It may be hard to tell the difference
between acute pericarditis and pain
due to a heart attack.
 Chronic pericarditis: Inflammation of the
pericardium that lasts for three months or
longer
 Constrictive pericarditis: A severe form of
pericarditis in which the inflamed layers of
the pericardium stiffen, develop scar tissue,
thicken and stick together
 Infectious pericarditis: develops as the
result of a viral, bacterial, fungal or parasitic
infection.

7. Cont. Types
 Idiopathic pericarditis: Pericarditis that
doesn’t have a known cause.
 Traumatic pericarditis: develops as the
result of an injury to the chest, such as after
a car accident.
 Uremic pericarditis: develops as the result
of kidney failure.
 Malignant pericarditis: develops as result
of a cancer growing in your body.

8. Causes
 A complication of a viral infection, most
often a gastrointestinal virus, causes viral
pericarditis.
 A bacterial infection, including tuberculosis,
causes bacterial pericarditis.
 A fungal infection causes fungal pericarditis.
 An infection from a parasite causes parasitic
pericarditis.
 Some autoimmune diseases, such as lupus,
rheumatoid arthritis and scleroderma, can
cause pericarditis.

9. Cont. causes
 Injury to the chest, such as after a car
accident, causes traumatic pericarditis.
 Kidney failure causes uremic pericarditis.
 Tumors like lymphoma causes malignant
pericarditis.
 Genetic diseases such as Familial
Mediterranean Fever (FMF).
 Medications that suppress the immune
system (This is rare).

10. Risk factor
 A heart attack.
 Open heart surgery (postpericardiotomy
syndrome).
 Radiation therapy.
 Percutaneous treatment, such as cardiac
catheterization or radiofrequency ablation
(RFA).

11. How is pericarditis diagnosed?
 Sharp pain in your chest and back of the
shoulders that feel better when you sit up
and lean forward
 chest pain with breathing
 The rubbing of your pericardium’s inflamed
lining causes a rubbing or creaking sound
called the “pericardial rub." They’ll be able
to hear it best when you lean forward, hold
your breath and breathe out

12. Diagnose
 Chest X-ray to see the size of your heart and
any fluid in your lungs.
 Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) to look for
changes in your heart rhythm. In about half
of all people with pericarditis, providers see
some characteristic changes to a normal
heart rhythm.
 Echocardiogram (echo) to see how well
your heart is working and check for fluid (a
pericardial effusion) around your heart
 Cardiac MRI to check for extra fluid in your
pericardium, pericardial inflammation or
thickening, or compression of your heart.

13. Cont.
 CT scan to look for calcium in the
pericardium, fluid, inflammation, tumors and
disease of the areas around your heart
 Blood tests: sedimentation rate (ESR) and
ultra-sensitive C reactive protein levels
Echocardiogram

14. Radiological investigations
 Cardiac MRI

15. Video explaining pericarditis while reading radiological scans
◼ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=e0qZ5qh4GMA

16. Summary
 Introduction: Pericarditis is inflammation of the pericardium, the sac surrounding the heart.
 Symptoms: Chest pain, fever, and shortness of breath are common.
 Types: Acute, chronic, and recurrent pericarditis.
 Diagnosis: Involves ECG, echocardiogram, and blood tests for inflammation markers.