Massive pericardial effusion with cardiac tamponade secundary to cholesterol pericarditis.

The presence of cholesterol crystals in the pericardial fluid is a very rare finding of unknown pathogenesis with no more than 100 reported cases in literature. Patients with cholesterol pericarditis usually have large volume spills of slow development that are well tolerated, rarely causing cardiac tamponade or constrictive pericarditis. We report a case of cholesterol pericarditis with a severe pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade in a patient with an uncertain diagnosis of tuberculosis.