Constrictive pericarditis in rheumatoid arthritis.
Constrictive pericarditis is an unusual complication of rheumatoid arthritis, and its development appears to be uninfluenced by second-line therapy. Five patients are described who developed the disease, with possibly two more. Medical treatment is ineffective: the treatment of choice is surgical, and the postoperative prognosis is good. The crude prevalence rate for the association is 0.64% for males and 0.06% for females.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010493:Pericarditis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology