Pericarditis and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Pericarditis is an uncommon but important complication of inflammatorybowel disease. Five new cases are described and the publishedliterature on nine other cases is reviewed. The pericarditisoccurred during an active phase of the colitis in all our casesand was associated with other extra-colonic manifestations ofcolitis in three. No other cause for the pericarditis was identifiedand in all five cases it responded promptly to the administrationof corticosteroid drugs.