Acute idiopathic pericarditis and calcific aortic stenosis: unusual fatal disease combination

Acute idiopathic pericarditis with massive pericardial effusion complicated left ventricular enlargement due to calcific aortic stenosis and led to intractable congestive heart failure and death during aortic valve replacement in a 42-year-old white male. This unusual combination of acute and chronic diseases is lethal due to their combined deleterious effect upon myocardial function.