Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Sep 6, 2021; 9(25): 7593-7599
Published online Sep 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i25.7593
Hemorrhagic pericardial effusion following treatment with infliximab: A case report and literature review
Hui Li, Hui Xing, Chen Hu, Bai-Yang Sun, Shuang Wang, Wan-Ying Li, Bo Qu
Hui Li, Hui Xing, Chen Hu, Bai-Yang Sun, Shuang Wang, Wan-Ying Li, Bo Qu, Department of Gastroenterology, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150086, Heilongjiang Province, China
Author contributions: Li H, Hu C, and Qu B were the patient’s gastroenterologists; Xing H was the primary nurse; Li H, Hu C, Qu B, and Xing H reviewed the literature and contributed to the manuscript drafting; Sun BY, Wang S, and Li WY interpreted the imaging findings and contributed to the manuscript drafting; Qu B and Li H were responsible for the revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content; All authors issued final approval for the version to be submitted.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there are no any conflicts of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Bo Qu, MD, PhD, Chief Doctor, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, No. 246 Xuefu Road, Harbin 150086, Heilongjiang Province, China. qubo_1970@hotmail.com
Received: May 6, 2021
Peer-review started: May 6, 2021
First decision: June 6, 2021
Revised: June 16, 2021
Accepted: July 2, 2021
Article in press: July 2, 2021
Published online: September 6, 2021
Processing time: 116 Days and 18.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Pericarditis or pericardial effusion is a rare but serious complication of infliximab (IFX), especially cardiac tamponade, and most patients have rheumatoid arthritis and drug-induced lupus erythematosus. This is a case of hemorrhagic pericardial effusion following treatment with IFX. The patient was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. A high titer of anti-IFX antibodies and a strong type III immunologic reaction may be a possible cause. This suggests that clinicians need to pay attention to the occurrence of pericardial effusion in patients treated with IFX. Early recognition helps prevent the occurrence of hemorrhagic pericardial effusion and minimize its impact on the natural evolution of the disease.