heart and blood vessel disorders
Acute Pericarditis
Diagnosis of Acute Pericarditis
Electrocardiography Chest x-ray Echocardiography Tests to identify the cause Doctors can usually diagnose acute pericarditis based on the person's description of the pain and the sounds heard by listening through a stethoscope placed on the person's chest. Pericarditis can cause a crunching sound similar to the creaking of a leather shoe or a scratchy sound similar to the rustling of dry leaves (pericardial rub). Doctors can often diagnose pericarditis a few hours to a few days after a heart attack based on hearing these sounds. Usually, doctors also do Electrocardiography (ECG), which often shows abnormalities caused by the pericarditis. Then doctors look for signs of pericardial effusion by doing a chest x-ray and Sometimes the cause of pericarditis is obvious, such as a recent heart attack. Other times the cause may not be clear. Echocardiography may suggest the cause—for example, the image shown on the echocardiogram or chest x-ray may suggest cancer. Blood tests can detect some of the other conditions that cause pericarditis—for example, Overview of Leukemia , infections, If the cause of pericarditis remains unknown, doctors may withdraw a sample of the pericardial fluid and/or pericardial tissue using a needle inserted through the chest wall (pericardiocentesis). The fluid and tissue are sent to the laboratory for testing. 