What Treatment is Available for Irradication of Pericaditis?

I was diagnosed with idiopathic recurrent pericarditis in 1998. I can't say how many times I've had it - maybe 100, could be more. The worst attack was in May 1998, when I had an unsuccessfull pericardial tamponade, followed by surgery where I had a pericardial window cut and a pericardial and a plural effusian. 1700mL of fluid was removed during surgery and my left lung collapsed.

I was put on a course of cochicine which seems to lessen the attacks. During the attacks I have 200mg of Indomethacin per day as well.

It is January 2003 and I have pericaditis at the moment and have just come home from hospital.

Does anyone know of any treatments that have irradicated this type of problem? I would greatly appreciate any success stories

[CCF-M.D.-RCJ]

ZZZ,

Sorry to hear of your ordeal.

Unfortunatley, recurrent pericarditis can be a very difficult problem to treat.  Your case is particularly unusual with such a high number of recurrences.  It certainly begs the question of whether or not your case is truly idiopathic, or is there an underlying cause, such as a connective tissue disorder, that is driving the attacks.

One expert here at the Cleveland Clinic uses colchicine as first line therapy for the treatment of recurrent pericarditis.  He has not seen failures with this therapy, but they are certainly reported.  The use of alternative immunosuppressants has been described in the medical literature, with azathioprine and cyclophosphamide being the most commonly used.

Here is a reference regarding the immunosuppressants:
TI - Immunosuppressive therapy prevents recurrent pericarditis.
AU - Marcolongo R; Russo R; Laveder F; Noventa F; Agostini C
SO - J Am Coll Cardiol 1995 Nov 1;26(5):1276-9


Hope that helps. Good luck.

[JadeVictoria]

A related discussion, Who else has idopathic pericarditis? was started.