Etiological Profile, Clinical Features and Medical Management of AcutePericarditis in Burkina Faso

Diagnosis of acute pericarditis is sometimes difficult but the first challenge to the clinician is to establish an etiologic diagnosis. This study aimed to describe etiologies of this pathology and its clinical pictures, and expose the medical treatment and outcome, at the time of the success of antiretroviral treatment. Through a prospective study, we follow up a sample of patients presenting acute pericarditis from January 2010 to December 2011. There were 43 cases composed of 20 men and 23 women. The average age was 41.4 ± 16.1 years. The leading clinical signs were infectious syndrome (100%), dyspnea (86%), and chest pain (79.1%). Right heart failure was found in 27.9% of cases, hypotension in 23.2% of cases and pulsus paradoxus in 20.9% of cases. Echocardiography found pericardial effusion in 88.4% of cases. This effusion was of great amount in 26.3% of cases of pericardial effusion. Cardiac tamponade was encountered in six cases. We identified an etiology in 88.4% of cases. These etiologies were tuberculosis in 47.4% of cases. As treatment, anti-tuberculous drugs associated to corticosteroids were systematic in tuberculous forms. In other cases, we used aspirin associated to corticosteroids or colchicine as appropriate. Six cases of recurrence were observed in exclusively tuberculous forms. Two cases of deaths were occurred.