Cardiac tamponade in the early postpartum period as the presenting and predominant manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Pericarditis is a common manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), however, tamponade seems to be extremely rare. A review of the English literature revealed 12 such cases and in 5 the tamponade was the presenting symptom of the disease. We describe an additional patient. She developed pericardial tamponade one week after delivery of a healthy child, and subsequently was diagnosed to have SLE. The effect of pregnancy and the postpartum period on SLE is discussed.