Calcified constrictive pericarditis resulting in tamponade in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease with multiorgan involvement, including heart. Pericarditis-the most common cardiac manifestation-occurs in up to 50% of cases, resulting in positive treatment outcomes. Rarely, it evolves to hazardous complications. A 50-year-old woman with SLE in clinical remission, receiving hydroxychloroquine 400 mg/day, presented to us with severe chest pain and low-grade fever. Physical examination revealed a friction rub and decreased breath sounds at the right lung base. Laboratory evaluation demonstrated leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, low C4 levels, and high acute phase reactants. Chest X-ray exhibited cardiomegaly, calcified pericardium, and right pleural effusion, confirmed by CT scan. PPD skin test and IGRA were both negative. Pericardial fluid, blood, and urine cultures for bacteria and fungi, as well as Gram and Ziehl-Neelsen stains were negative. Serological tests for viruses were also negative. The patient was diagnosed with calcified constrictive pericarditis (CP) due to SLE. She was treated with cyclophosphamide and methylprednisolone pulses, without improvement. Her clinical condition deteriorated, developing signs and symptoms compatible with cardiac tamponade (TMP), which was confirmed by Doppler echocardiography. The patient underwent pericardiectomy. A dramatic response was noted and she was discharged with prednisone 50 mg/day and azathioprine 100 mg/day. Thus, we review and discuss the relevant literature of SLE cases with CP or TMP. When an SLE patient presents with CP, infectious causes should be excluded first. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only case of SLE and calcified CP leading to TMP, hence physicians should be aware of this complication.

Treatment Algorithms in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

OBJECTIVE

To establish agreement on systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) treatment.

METHODS

SLE experts (n = 69) were e-mailed scenarios and indicated preferred treatments. Algorithms were constructed and agreement determined (≥50% respondents indicating ≥70% agreement).

RESULTS

Initially, 54% (n = 37) responded suggesting treatment for scenarios; 13 experts rated agreement with scenarios. Fourteen of 16 scenarios had agreement as follows: discoid lupus: first-line therapy was topical agents and hydroxychloroquine and/or glucocorticoids then azathioprine and subsequently mycophenolate (mofetil); uncomplicated cutaneous vasculitis: initial treatment was glucocorticoids ± hydroxychloroquine ± methotrexate, followed by azathioprine or mycophenolate and then cyclophosphamide; arthritis: initial therapy was hydroxychloroquine and/or glucocorticoids, then methotrexate and subsequently rituximab; pericarditis: first-line therapy was nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, then glucocorticoids with/without hydroxychloroquine, then azathioprine, mycophenolate, or methotrexate and finally belimumab or rituximab, and/or a pericardial window; interstitial lung disease/alveolitis: induction was glucocorticoids and mycophenolate or cyclophosphamide, then rituximab or intravenous gamma globulin (IVIG), and maintenance followed with azathioprine or mycophenolate; pulmonary hypertension: glucocorticoids and mycophenolate or cyclophosphamide and an endothelin receptor antagonist were initial therapies, subsequent treatments were phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors and then prostanoids and rituximab; antiphospholipid antibody syndrome: standard anticoagulation with/without hydroxychloroquine, then a thrombin inhibitor for venous thrombosis, versus adding aspirin or platelet inhibition drugs for arterial events; mononeuritis multiplex and central nervous system vasculitis: first-line therapy was glucocorticoids and cyclophosphamide followed by maintenance with azathioprine or mycophenolate, and then rituximab, IVIG, or plasmapheresis; and serious lupus nephritis: first-line therapy was glucocorticoids and mycophenolate, then cyclophosphamide then rituximab.

CONCLUSION

We established variable agreement on treatment approaches. For some treatment decisions there was good agreement between experts even if no randomized controlled trial data were available.

Successful treatment of massive intractable pericardial effusion in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus with tocilizumab

A 51-year-old Japanese woman developed systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in 1995. In August 2005, she had massive pericardial effusion due to lupus pericarditis, which was compromising her circulation. Methylprednisolone pulse, intravenous cyclophosphamide pulse and pericardiocentesis were all ineffective. The pericardium was cut surgically to create a passage to drain the liquid into the pleural cavity. The procedure was temporarily effective; however, massive liquid accumulated in the pleural cavity within 1 year. Oral tacrolimus and topical betamethasone injection were ineffective. Since the interleukin-6 (IL-6) level in the effusion was markedly increased (1160 pg/ml), tocilizumab was administered intravenously at a dose of 8 mg/kg every 4 weeks. The effect was astonishing and only a residual amount of pericardial effusion remained. Prednisolone was tapered successfully from 15 to 5 mg daily. Tocilizumab is a treatment of choice when we confront an intractable serositis with massive effusion in SLE, if the IL-6 level is high.

A case of rheumatoid pericarditis associated with a high IL-6 titer in the pericardial fluid and tocilizumab treatment

We report a 60-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis complicated by pericarditis. Treatment with tocilizumab improved her polyarthritis, but the pericardial effusion increased so rapidly as to cause cardiac tamponade before the treatment could prove its efficacy. Pericardial effusion disappeared after pericardiocentesis. The pericardial fluid contained a remarkably high concentration of interleukin-6 (IL-6; 351,000 pg/mL), which tocilizumab appeared to have made yet higher compared to the reported IL-6 levels in rheumatoid pericarditis. No further exacerbation of pericarditis was observed after retreatment with tocilizumab. This case has important implications in that it suggests that the prominently elevated IL-6 level in pericardial fluid during tocilizumab treatment may be an indicator of its efficacy for pericarditis.