[Complications of rheumatoid pericarditis: constriction and tamponade]

Pericarditis is frequent in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. It is usually asymptomatic, but cases of constrictive pericarditis or, more rarely, tamponade have been reported. In such cases, the study of pericardial fluid is of special interest for the aetiological diagnosis. Early medical treatment with or without pericardiocentesis is effective in most cases of tamponade, but constrictive pericarditis demands pericardiectomy. We report here three cases of pericarditis responsible for cardiac compression: two cases of tamponade and one case of constrictive pericarditis.