Tuberculous pericarditis as the first manifestation of AIDS.

Although it is known that extrapulmonary tuberculosis in patients with AIDS has a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations, pericardial involvement has rarely been described. We report a case of this condition as the first manifestation of AIDS with good response to antituberculous therapy. Although unusual, the diagnosis of tuberculous pericarditis in symptomatic HIV-infected patients should be aggressively pursued because of the beneficial clinical response to treatment.