Acute Benign Pericarditis Caused by Coxsackie Virus Group B

SINCE Dalldorf and Sickles1 isolated the Coxsackie virus, numerous accounts describing this group of viruses and their pleomorphic effects have appeared. The literature recently has contained several articles2 3 4 5 6 associating the Coxsackie virus with so-called idiopathic benign pericarditis. Kilbourne7 has suggested that certain criteria be met before a definite diagnosis of viral disease is made. The most important of these are that the cause of the patient's condition be unrelated to known pathogens, that demonstration of adequate antibody response to a given virus coincide with the patient's illness and that virus be recovered from the pathological specimen.Only in 1 reported . . .