Pericarditis and ulcerative colitis.

We report an 18-year-old man with a pericardial effusion complicating idiopathic ulcerative colitis. Circulating immune complexes were absent. He responded to sulfasalazine and prednisone, with resolution of the pericarditis and improvement in the symptoms of his inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We recommend looking for pericardial effusion or pericarditis in patients with IBD and chest symptoms, and for IBD in obscure cases of these cardiac disorders.