Holistic management of acute pericarditis: An updated clinical approach

Acute pericarditis is the most frequent pericardial syndrome in clinical practice. Its symptomatology, evolution and prognosis can be very diverse and are highly conditioned by its etiology. In Western countries, the idiopathic etiology associated with viral conditions is the most frequent, with a good prognosis under optimal medical treatment, however, other etiologies such as purulent, neoplastic or autoimmune present a worse prognosis with the need for specific treatments. Therefore, an adequate etiologic diagnosis is essential and risk stratification will also be key to detect those entities at risk of complications that require in-hospital diagnostic and therapeutic management. Individualized treatment is essential based on anti-inflammatory drugs with different therapeutic regimens depending on each etiology and form of presentation, but without forgetting a humanized and patient-centered approach to achieve results in health and quality of life for these patients.