Did You Know?
Many asbestos-containing products remain in buildings, ships, industrial facilities and other environments where the fibers can become airborne.
Pericardial mesothelioma is a very rare form of mesothelioma and accounts for approximately 5% of all mesothelioma cases. Pericardial mesothelioma is a highly lethal and fortunately the rarest of mesothelioma cancers. Pericardial mesothelioma is a disease that affects the lining of the heart, or pericardium. Sometimes doctors refer to this disease as mesothelioma of the pericardium.
Pericardial mesothelioma is the most infrequent form of this rare asbestos-linked cancer. Individuals with pericardial mesothelioma have cancerous growths in tissues surrounding the heart. Due to the rarity of this cancer, pericardial mesothelioma has not been definitely associated with asbestos exposure, although strong links between asbestos and pericardial mesothelioma have been made.
Pericardial mesothelioma patients can exhibit all three kinds of mesothelioma cancer cells:
- Epithelioid mesothelioma
- Sarcomatoid mesothelioma
- Biphasic mesothelioma
Pericardial Mesothelioma Symptoms include:
- Chest pain
- Dyspnea
- Bad Cough
- Palpitations
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea
- Weight loss
- Patients displaying the symptoms of pericardial mesothelioma are usually given either an X-Ray or a CT scan to look for evidence of pericardial mesothelioma.
Pericardial surgery
This is a palliative treatment usually not intended to achieve a cure.
It is not clearly understood how the asbestos fibers become lodged in the heart serous lining or pericardium. It is possible that asbestos fibers, after being broken into smaller pieces in the lungs, are carried from the lungs into the blood stream. As the fibers are pumped through the heart, they become lodged in the heart lining. Once lodged in the pericardium, the chronic inflammation process leading to cancerous growths is similar to that occurring in pleural mesothelioma.
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