[Chronic constrictive pericarditis complicating an apparently stable rheumatoid arthritis. Report of a new case (author's transl)].

The authors report a case of constrictive pericarditis complicating an apparently stable sero-negative rhumatoïd arthritis, a rarely described pathological association. The patient had a serious polyserositis due to an extremely marked and inflammatory pericardial constriction. The rhumatoïd origin was confirmed by pericardial effusion, histological and immunofluorescent studies. The inflammatory pericardial process rendered pericardiectomy virtually impossible and resulted in a fatal outcome.