Abstract
Objectives
Acute pericarditis (AP) in children is a rare disease and most often has infectious aetiology but can also arise from autoimmune and malignant causes. The diagnosis is often delayed because of nonspecific clinical signs. The objectives of the study were to analyse all cases of AP treated in our hospital during years 2008–2017.
Methods All the cases with AP were selected from hospitals database. We analyzed case histories to explore the course of disease, causative agents, echocardiographic findings, surgical interventions and the outcome.
Results There were 15 cases of AP diagnosed during hospitalization. One case was excluded from the further study due to myopericarditis with the prevalence of myocardial inflammation. There were 3 cases with non-infectious causes: mediastinal Hodkin’s lymphoma, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and Stills disease with mastocyte activation syndrome. Patients with infectious acute pericarditis were 5 girls and 6 boys (55%), age 8 ± 5 years,7 patients (64%) were transferred from other hospitals and 82% (9) had received antibiotics before admission to our hospital. The amount of pericardial fluid diagnosed by echocardiography at the moment of diagnosis was 25 ± 13 mm, CRP 84 ± 77 mg/L, leucocytes’ count 10.7 ± 5 thousand. Causative agents were found in 7 cases (64%): (1 – tbc, 1 – parvoB19, 1 – EBV, 1 – RSV, 1 – CMV, 1 – S. aureus, 1 –Varicella). Pericardial drainage was performed in 82% (9). There were no cases of death. The length of hospital stay was 33 ± 18 days. Recurrent pericarditis was observed in 3 patients (27%) (2–3 episodes).
Conclusions AP remains serious disease with complicated diagnosis due to inapparent clinical signs up to the collection of large pericardial effusion which develop within days to weeks. It is necessary to take blood cultures prior administration of antibiotics in unclear cases.
Acute pericarditis (AP) in children is a rare disease and most often has infectious aetiology but can also arise from autoimmune and malignant causes. The diagnosis is often delayed because of nonspecific clinical signs. The objectives of the study were to analyse all cases of AP treated in our hospital during years 2008–2017.
Methods All the cases with AP were selected from hospitals database. We analyzed case histories to explore the course of disease, causative agents, echocardiographic findings, surgical interventions and the outcome.
Results There were 15 cases of AP diagnosed during hospitalization. One case was excluded from the further study due to myopericarditis with the prevalence of myocardial inflammation. There were 3 cases with non-infectious causes: mediastinal Hodkin’s lymphoma, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and Stills disease with mastocyte activation syndrome. Patients with infectious acute pericarditis were 5 girls and 6 boys (55%), age 8 ± 5 years,7 patients (64%) were transferred from other hospitals and 82% (9) had received antibiotics before admission to our hospital. The amount of pericardial fluid diagnosed by echocardiography at the moment of diagnosis was 25 ± 13 mm, CRP 84 ± 77 mg/L, leucocytes’ count 10.7 ± 5 thousand. Causative agents were found in 7 cases (64%): (1 – tbc, 1 – parvoB19, 1 – EBV, 1 – RSV, 1 – CMV, 1 – S. aureus, 1 –Varicella). Pericardial drainage was performed in 82% (9). There were no cases of death. The length of hospital stay was 33 ± 18 days. Recurrent pericarditis was observed in 3 patients (27%) (2–3 episodes).
Conclusions AP remains serious disease with complicated diagnosis due to inapparent clinical signs up to the collection of large pericardial effusion which develop within days to weeks. It is necessary to take blood cultures prior administration of antibiotics in unclear cases.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 138 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Apr 2019 |
| Event | RSU International Research Conference 2019: Knowledge For Use In Practice - Riga, Latvia Duration: 1 Apr 2019 → 3 Apr 2019 https://conference2019.rsu.lv/general-information/about-conference https://conference2019.rsu.lv/general-information https://www.rsu.lv/zinatnes-nedela-2019 https://conference2019.rsu.lv/sites/default/files/documents/knowledge_for_use_in_practice_abstracts_rev.pdf |
Conference
| Conference | RSU International Research Conference 2019 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Latvia |
| City | Riga |
| Period | 1/04/19 → 3/04/19 |
| Other | The Conference will be held within the framework of RSU Research Week 2019. RSU starptautiskā konference "Zināšanas praksei" medicīnas un veselības aprūpes nozarē 2019. |
| Internet address |
Field of Science*
- 3.2 Clinical medicine
- 3.3 Health sciences
Publication Type*
- 3.4. Other publications in conference proceedings (including local)