Key result
Expert review reinforces NSAIDs and colchicine as first-line therapy for acute and recurrent pericarditis.
Why the study?
Pericarditis management faces evolving complexities, including SARS-CoV-2 associations and frequent complications, while European guidelines have not been updated in 10 years.
An expert interview highlighting current challenges and approaches in diagnosing and treating pericarditis, including post-COVID-19 and vaccine-associated cases, in anticipation of the 2025 ESC guidelines.
Supports interim pericarditis management with NSAIDs and colchicine; leaves open effects of emerging infections pending 2025 ESC guidelines.
With the advent of new diagnostic and therapeutic methods, the management of pericarditis has not become an easier task. The well-studied, but currently rare tuberculosis, bacterial and malignant forms have been joined by pericarditis associated with infection or vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. While 2-3 years ago, cardiologists had to recall the schedule of managing acute viral pericarditis, today its complications are often encountered, including chronic, recurrent, effusive or constrictive pericarditis. The European guidelines were updated 10 years ago and are expected to be issued within the next year. We posed the most pressing questions on the management of pericarditis to the coordinator of the 2015 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines [1], who will also chair the 2025 ESC guidelines on myocarditis and pericarditis, one of the most cited scientists in the field of inflammatory diseases of the pericardium, Massimo Imazio. He is a Professor in the Department of Cardiology and Anatomy at the University of Turin, runs a school on pericarditis, and has initiated fundamental research of this pathology. We presented his answers with comments of the co-author in the form of a short interview.
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Imazio et al. (2024) conducted a review in Pericarditis. Pericarditis management strategies was evaluated. Expert opinion highlights the evolving management of acute and recurrent pericarditis, emphasizing NSAIDs and colchicine as first-line therapies ahead of the upcoming 2025 ESC guidelines.
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