Cardiac tamponade in a patient with lupus nephritis / 대한내과학회지

ABSTRACT

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that involves many different organ systems, and this illness exhibits a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations. The renal involvement in SLE is called lupus nephritis and 50~80% of patients with SLE suffer from lupus nephritis. Although pericarditis or pericardial effusion is a common cardiac manifestation of SLE, cardiac tamponade is rare. Cardiac tamponade may be fatal if it is not recognized quickly and treated promptly. We report a case of cardiac tamponade associated with lupus nephritis. Treatment consisted of pericardiocentesis and high-dose corticosteroid.