Acute Pericarditis: Milwaukee Children’s Hospital 1973–1983

Laennec, in 1823, noted that pericarditis “may appear with all the symptoms of a very violent disease of the chest: at other times it proves fatal without leading us in the least to suspect its existence.” At present, the clinician is still challenged at the bedside, but a high index of suspicion of pericarditis allows one to proceed with prompt diagnosis and specific therapy that should provide the desired low mortality [4].