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Medical Author:

Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

Dr. Ben Wedro practices emergency medicine at Gundersen Clinic, a regional trauma center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His background includes undergraduate and medical studies at the University of Alberta, a Family Practice internship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

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Medical Editor:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Chest pain is the most common pericarditis symptom that causes a patient to seek medical care. The pain is usually sharp and pleuritic, meaning that it hurts worse to take a deep breath. It is often worse when lying flat and is eased somewhat by leaning forward. The pain can radiate to the back or left shoulder.

Fever, weakness, and malaise may be present, as with any other inflammatory process in the body.

If the pericarditis persists, fluid can accumulate around the heart, termed a pericardial effusion. The effusion can raise the pressure inside the pericardium causing cardiac tamponade that prevents the heart muscle from contracting and beating adequately. This can cause symptoms of shortness of breath, weakness, syncope (fainting), and in some people, death.

Constrictive pericarditis occurs when the pericardium scars down and adheres to the heart surface; it can prevent the heart from expanding to receive blood returning from the body. This type of pericarditis can present with swelling (edema) of the feet, ankles and legs.

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