title: Cholesterol pericarditis--relapsing pericardial effusion in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Cholesterol pericarditis is an uncommon form of pericardial disease, of unknown pathophysiology, that is characterized by chronic relapsing, usually large, pericardial effusions that are distinctive due to a high level of cholesterol. Usually it is idiopathic, but it can be associated with various systemic diseases such as hypothyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis and tuberculosis, among others. Its clinical course is usually indolent and complications such as cardiac tamponade and chronic constrictive pericarditis are relatively rare. However, the need for surgery for complete treatment has been reported in at least 10 % of cases. When rheumatoid arthritis is the underlying cause, this outcome is more frequent among those with an acute episode of pericarditis during the course of the disease. We report the case of a 61-year-old female rheumatoid arthritis patient, who presented with heart failure due to a large pericardial effusion and was successfully treated by a surgical approach.
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Cardiologia, Hospital de Santa Cruz, Carnaxide, Portgal. lforl@clix.pt
authors.forename: Luís
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Raposo
authors.forename: Maria João
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aguiar
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abecasis
authors.forename: Sáncia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: Ana Batalha
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.forename: Ana Paula
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: Maria João
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Pais
authors.forename: Ricardo Seabra
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Gomes
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications*; D002784:Cholesterol; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000209:etiology*; D010493:Pericarditis / Q000209:etiology*; D012008:Recurrence
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol