Reference no: EM133309518

Question: In your response discuss whether it may affect cardiac performance or cardiac output. Identify if this client is at risk for other pathological conditions such as coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure. Explain your rationale, using evidence to support it.

Case Study: Pericarditis is the inflammation of the pericardium which is the thin sac that encapsulates the heart. The purpose of this sac is that it creates fluid that lubricates the heart's movement. The inflammation of the pericardium (pericarditis) can be the result of many different ailments including a respiratory virus, uremia, trauma, and malignant disease. The most common symptom is chest pain (Dababneh & Siddique, 2022).

The patient presents with precordial chest pain which improves when sitting up and leaning forward which is a sign of pericarditis. This along with the recent history of an upper respiratory infection and auscultation of pericardial friction rub further suggests that this patient is experiencing pericarditis. The provider would most likely order an electrocardiogram (ECG) which would show ST elevation and PR-depression if the patient did have pericarditis. This result would additionally help rule out alternative reasons for the chest pain. Because this would be an acute case, the treatment would likely include a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication (NSAID) and colchicine. The nurse would want to assess for any other cardiac symptoms such as tachycardia and palpitations which could indicated myocarditis, hiccups which could suggest pericardial effusion, and fever which may suggest a bacterial infection (Ismail, 2020).