| Acute PericarditisDefinition - Inflammation of pericardium lasting < 6 weeks
- Characterized by triad of chest pain, pericardial friction rub, and serial electrocardiographic (ECG) changes
 Epidemiology - Age
- Occurs at all ages but is more frequent in young adults
- Incidence
- 1–6% in postmortem studies
- 0.1% of hospitalized patients
- 5% of patients seen in emergency departments with chest pain but no myocardial infarction (MI)
Risk Factors - No identifiable risk factors exist for viral and idiopathic pericarditis, which are by far the most common causes.
- Risk is increased in patients with underlying conditions that can cause pericarditis.
Etiology - Infectious pericarditis
- Viral (coxsackievirus A and B, echovirus, mumps, adenovirus, hepatitis, HIV)
- Pyogenic (pneumococcus, streptococcus, staphylococcus, Neisseria species, Legionella species)
- Tuberculosis
- Fungal (histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, Candida species, blastomycosis)
- Other infections (syphilitic, protozoal, parasitic)
- Noninfectious pericarditis
- Acute idiopathic
- Acute MI
- Uremia
- Neoplasia
- Myxedema
- Cholesterol
- Chylopericardium
- Trauma
- Aortic dissection (with leakage into pericardial sac)
- Irradiation therapy
- Familial Mediterranean fever
- Familial pericarditis
- Whipple’s disease
- Sarcoidosis
- Pericarditis presumably related to hypersensitivity or autoimmunity
- Rheumatic fever
- Collagen vascular disease (systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, scleroderma, acute rheumatic fever, Wegener’s granulomatosis)
- Drug induced (e.g., procainamide, hydralazine, phenytoin, isoniazid, minoxidil, anticoagulants, methysergide)
- Cardiac injury
Associated Conditions - Pericardial effusion
- Acute MI
- Pleuritis
- Pneumonitis
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