Cardiac tamponade as an initial manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus in early childhood.

Cardiac tamponade is rare as an initial manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and even more so in paediatric patients. This paper reports an 8 year old girl with SLE with several unusual features: unusual age of presentation, unusual initial organ manifestation and recurrent cardiac tamponade as a complication.