Pericardial effusions in systemic lupus erythematosus — Who is most likely to develop tamponade?

What is it about?

In this brief commentary we analyze using literature review, cardiac tamponade as a result of pericardial effusion in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Potential predictors of tamponade in SLE can be of great value to physicians.

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Why is it important?

Pericarditis is one of the most common manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Its prevalence in these patients is reported as between 12 and 48% [1]. Fortunately, cardiac tamponade is a much less common sequel, with an incidence of less than 3% [1,2]. However on occasion an acutely ill patient does present with this complication, which is sometimes the initial manifestation of SLE as recently described by Tian et al. [3] in a young female. This presentation is not a new phenomenon — for instance Schoenfeld et al. [4] described a case more than half a century ago when the diagnosis of tamponade was on clinical grounds, prior to the advent of echocardiography.