Minocycline-induced pericardial effusion

To describe a reversible hypersensitivity reaction characterized by pericardial effusion and acute mixed liver injury in a woman treated with minocycline.

A 39-year-old white woman developed dyspnea and chest pain with pericardial effusion on echocardiography approximately 20 days after starting minocycline treatment. Additional manifestations consisted of eosinophilia and liver injury. No lung, skin, or joint involvement was noted; antinuclear antibody testing was negative.

Minocycline has been associated with rare but severe hypersensitivity reactions and autoimmune disorders, generally involving the lungs, skin, or joints. We observed a patient with an unusual minocycline-induced reaction with pericardial effusion and acute mixed liver injury. The number of spontaneously reported cases in national and international databases indicates that minocycline-induced pericardial effusion is very rare as a main clinical manifestation.

Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of pericardial effusion without lung, skin, or joint involvement as an adverse effect of minocycline.