Sulfasalazine-induced pericarditis in a patient with ulcerative colitis without recurrence when switching to mesalazine.

INTRODUCTION: Pericarditis is rarely reported in inflammatory bowel disease. Besides its common causes, pericarditis could be related to ulcerative colitis flare or to 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) treatment. CASE REPORT: We report the case of a patient in whom fever, weight loss and pericarditis developed after 16 years of treatment with sulfasalazine for ulcerative colitis, after increasing the daily dosage from 1 to 3 g. DISCUSSION: The patient recovered after treatment discontinuation and did not exhibit any recurrence of pericarditis when treatment with mesalazine was introduced.
CONCLUSION: In conclusion, if pericarditis occurs in ulcerative colitis patients treated with 5-ASA compounds, the treatment should be considered as a possible cause, even after an increase of the dosage. In this case, discontinuation of the treatment and cautious switch to another 5-ASA compound should be tested.