Acute pericarditis associated with hepatitis B infection

Patients infected with hepatitis B have demonstrated a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations other than hepatitis. Immune complex formation has been proposed as a possible mechanism for such varied disease presentations. The present report describes a case in which acute pericarditis is associated with hepatitis B surface antigen-positive disease. Speculations are made relating the pericardial changes to the formation of immune complexes following hepatitis B virus infection.