Inflammatory heart disease occurs when the surrounding heart tissue or muscle is inflamed from exposure to an infection like a bacteria or virus or from an internal anomaly. This type of inflammation may appear in cases of rheumatic fever and kawasaki disease. The disease may be categorized as either endocarditis, myocarditis or pericarditis.
Types of Inflammatory Heart Disease
Pericarditis
The heart is enveloped by a sac called the pericardium. The sac is made up of two layers the fibrous pericardium and the serous pericardium. The serous pericardium consists of two layers which both provide lubrication to the active heart to decrease friction. The fibrous pericardium is the outer layer of dense connective tissue that secures the heart to the bordering walls, prevents the complete flooding of the heart with blood and protects the heart.
There are many instances where pericarditis manifests without a known cause however, there are some factors that will promote the disease including:
1.Viral and bacterial infections
2.Connective tissue disease such as sarcoidosis and rheumatoid arthritis
3.Previous injury to the heart like heart attack, trauma and heart surgery
4.Metabolic disorders chiefly hypothyroidism and uremia (kidney failure)
5.An adverse reaction to a specific type of medication
6.Tumours and cancers
Endocarditis
Endocarditis is stimulated by an infection of the endocardium or inner lining of the heart resulting in subsequent inflammation. It generally manifests when pathogens from other areas of the body enter the bloodstream and latches on to weakened sections of the heart. If is not treated it may partially or completely ruin the heart valves and may also progress into a life- threatening condition. The disorder rarely affects individuals with healthy hearts. The greatest risk factors are deterioration in the condition of the heart, artificial heart valve and having any other heart defect.
Myocarditis
Myocarditis describes inflammation of the heart muscle. It is prompted by several infections that include viruses like sarcoidosis, pregnancy, and immune diseases. The most prevalent form of infection is by a virus which will attack the heart muscle inciting local inflammation. Once the infection has ceased the immune response will be perpetuated, lengthening the duration of the myocarditis.
Symptoms
It may sometimes be asymptomatic. The most likely symptom is pain in the chest. In severe cases the disease may cause deterioration of the heart muscle. It is consequently possible for it to cause heart failure with evident shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, oedema, extreme tiredness and so on.
Prognosis
It is not known from the outset of the disease how well an individual will recover. Some persons recover completely while others may develop chronic heart failure due to considerable damage to the heart muscles. Rarely a person may be afflicted with fulminant heart failure which is deadly if a heart transplant is not performed. If the damage to the muscle is extreme a defibrillator may be implanted to increase the heart's overall function.
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