Pericarditis: A ten year survey

Abstract

Acute nonspecific pericarditis is a relatively common diagnosis, and probably represents a group of disease processes. The etiologic agent in many patients is a virus, and in a large group of patients the process is related to a hyper-sensitivity state or an autoimmune process. Acute nonspecific pericarditis is not always a benign disease, although in the majority of patients it runs a benign course. Among the complications that may result are pericardial effusion with tamponade, pericardial hemorrhage, acute relapses, the subsequent appearance of chronic constrictive pericarditis, and the occurrence of associated myocarditis. Adrenal steroid therapy may help dramatically in some patients, but steroid dependence and occasional hypercorticoadrenalism are disturbing complications of this treatment.