Post-cardiac injury syndromes. An emerging cause of pericardial diseases

The term “post-cardiac injury syndromes” includes post-myocardial infarction pericarditis, post-pericardiotomy syndrome, and post-traumatic pericarditis (iatrogenic, i.e. after percutaneous coronary or intracardiac interventions, such as pacemaker lead insertion, radiofrequency ablation, or non-iatrogenic, i.e. following blunt or penetrating trauma). All these conditions represent different clinical conditions characterized by an initial cardiac injury involving the pericardium/myocardium and/or pleura and the subsequent inflammatory syndrome ranging from simple, uncomplicated pericarditis to more complicated cases with pleuropericarditis, cardiac tamponade or massive pleural effusion. The etiopathogenesis is presumed to be immune-mediated in predisposed individuals that develop autoreactive reactions following the initial traumatic event. Treatment is essentially based on empirical anti-inflammatory therapy and adjunctive colchicine, which has been shown to be safe and efficacious for the prevention of pericarditis.