Acute Benign Pericarditis in Infancy

Acute benign pericarditis is becoming more fre- quently recognized. Carmichael, Sprague, Wyman and Bland (1951) describe a series of 50 cases, and, in a review of the literature, suggest that the syn- drome is becoming more common, especially in young adults. Friedman, Ash, Harris and Lee (1952) record the syndrome in infants of 5 months and 3 months of age respectively. A third possible example of the condition is described by Krost (1944), although this infant of 8 months was con- sidered to have rheumatism, a non-specific aetiology seems more probable. Heindl (1948) describes a further case in a 5-month-old infant. The rarity of the syndrome in infancy has prompted us to describe a further case.