Bornholm disease, also known as epidemic pleurodynia, is a condition characterized by myositis of the abdomen or chest caused by the Coxsackie B virus or other viruses. The myositis manifests as an intermittent stabbing pain in the musculature that is seen primarily in children and young adults.It is named after the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea where an outbreak was one of the first to be described. Signs and symptoms
The expected symptoms of Bornholm disease include fever, pleuritic chest pain, or epigastric abdominal pain that is frequently spasmodic. Bornholm associated chest pain is distinguished by attacks of severe pain in the lower chest, often on the right side. In a prior study, the episodes were shown to last five to ten minutes and then subside for thirty minutes. The pain is exacerbated by movement and makes walking and breathing more difficult. Patients have found relief from the pain by lying still for a brief period of time. The slightest movement of the rib cage causes a sharp increase in pain, which makes it difficult to breathe, although it generally passes off before any actual harm occurs. The attacks are unpredictable and strike "out of the blue" with a feeling like an iron grip around the rib cage. The colloquial names for the disease, such as the devils grip, (see "other names" below) reflect this symptom.
Diagnosis of DAH is often given following observation of a patient presenting with hemoptysis, anemia, and cough, along with a chest X-ray showing alveolar infiltrates in the lungs, which are areas of air space in the lungs that are opacified and of higher density that normal, usually indicating that they are filled with a substance such as pus, blood, or another fluid. Incidence
The outcome of treatment is dependent on causality. Pulmonary Hemorrhage is present in 7 to 10% of neonatal autopsies, but up to 80% of autopsies of very preterm infants. The incidence is 1 in 1,000 live births. Pulmonary hemorrhage has a high mortality rate of 30% to 40%. See also
Hemoptysis

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