Pleuropericarditis and pericardial tamponade associated with inflammatory bowel disease

Extraintestinal manifestations have been described with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Cardiac involvement in IBD is rare and may present as pericardial effusion, myopericarditis and conduction defects. Here we present a case of IBD with asymptomatic pericardial tamponade. A 37-year-old African-American man with ulcerative colitis with history of previous colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis was hospitalized for resection of the stricture of ileorectal anastomosis. The patient was afebrile with stable vitals and modest jugular venous distension, but no pulsus paradoxus. Cardiopulmonary examination was normal. A CT scan done to evaluate rise in liver function tests following removal of stricture showed a large 3.1 cm pericardial effusion. A transthoracic 2-D echocardiogram showed a moderate-sized posterior pericardial effusion limiting left ventricular filling. Central venous pressure was 18 mm Hg and the patient underwent drainage of 300 ml of old bloody pericardial effusion. Pericardial biopsy showed organizing fibrinohemorrhagic chronically inflamed pericardium without granuloma or neoplastic process. Serologies for EBV, Coxsackie virus and hepatitides were negative. Drug-related pericarditis seems less likely as the patient was not on sulfasalazine, and ANA, dsDNA and rheumatoid factor titers were negative. The patient was diagnosed to have pericardial tamponade associated with IBD.