The postpericardiotomy and similar syndromes.

A syndrome of pericardial and often pleural reaction with effusions and with fever occurs in three different settings. It bears the descriptive term of the condition which it follows: the postpericardiotomy syndrome, the postmyocardial infarction syndrome, and the postpericardial trauma syndrome. The manifestations, incidence, theories of etiology, treatment, and possibility of prevention were discussed. The syndrome is probably due to an immunologic response with an associated viral illness, since in a prospective study of children undergoing cardiac surgery in which the pericardium was entered, we found that the development of heart-reactive antibody in high titer and a significant rise in antiviral antibody occurred in patients with clinically evident syndrome.