Affiliations: Department of Pediatric Critical Care, Shands
Children's Hospital, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA | Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Shands Children's
Hospital, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Note: [] Correspondence: Dr. Srinivasarao Badugu MD., Departments of
Pediatric Critical Care and Cardiology, Shands Children's hospital, University
of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. Tel.: +1 352 265 0462; Fax: +1 352 265
0443; E-mail: srinivasbadugu@peds.ufl.edu
Abstract: With the widespread use of antibiotics, cases of pneumococcal
pericarditis in infants and children have decreased significantly. Since the
implementation of routine heptavalent pneumococcal immunization in 2000, these
cases have become even rarer. While rare and life threatening, patients with
invasive pneumococcal infections usually have a good outcome if diagnosed early
and treated adequately. Since 1980, we found reports of only 13 children with
pneumococcal pericarditis in PubMed. We describe another case of invasive
pneumococcal infection in an infant with purulent pericarditis leading to
tamponade and constrictive pericarditis.
