Recognizing recurrence
Pericarditis, or inflammation of the pericardium, often resolves after 1 episode, but for some individuals it can persist or recur repeatedly. Some patients experience painful symptoms and face complications regardless of treatment. Others will become steroid dependent to manage refractory symptoms.1 For all patients, an improved understanding of pericarditis is required in order to effectively manage their disease.


Acute pericarditis causes
- Approximately 80% to 90% of cases are considered idiopathic1,7
- Causes of acute pericarditis7:
- Infection (viral is most common)
- Postpericardial injury syndromes/postcardiac injury syndromes, such as postpericardiotomy syndrome, which affects a range of 10% to 40% of patients after cardiac surgery9
- Autoimmune diseases such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis
- Medications (rare)
Recurrent pericarditis causes
- Inadequate treatment of the first episode1,7,10
- Rapid tapering of anti-inflammatory therapy
- Early use of corticosteroids (rapid tapering or use of short courses of high-dose corticosteroids)
- Incomplete response to anti-inflammatory therapy1,7
- High levels of C-reactive protein (CRP)1,10
- Idiopathic etiology, presumed to be the result of an underlying autoinflammatory pathophysiology driven by IL-11,7,10