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European Heart Journal Advance Access originally published online on February 3, 2009
European Heart Journal 2009 30(5):532-539; doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehn608
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Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2009. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Colchicine for pericarditis: hype or hope?

Massimo Imazio1,*, Antonio Brucato2, Rita Trinchero1, David Spodick3 and Yehuda Adler4

1 Cardiology Department, Maria Vittoria Hospital, Via Cibrario 72, 10141 Torino, Italy
2 Internal Medicine Department, Ospedali Riuniti, Bergamo, Italy
3 Medical Services, St Vincent Hospital, Worcester Medical Center, 123 Summer Street, Worcester, MA, USA
4 Cardiac Rehabilitation Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel

Received 18 September 2008; revised 14 December 2008; accepted 17 December 2008; online publish-ahead-of-print 3 February 2009.

* Corresponding author. Tel: +39 011 4393391, Fax: +39 011 4393334, Email: massimo_imazio{at}yahoo.it

Colchicine has been effectively used in the treatment of several inflammatory conditions, such as gouty attacks, serositis related to familial Mediterranean fever, Behçet syndrome, and more recently also in acute and recurrent pericarditis. Growing evidence has shown that the drug may be useful to treat an acute attack and may be a way to cope with the prevention of pericarditis in acute and recurrent cases and after cardiac surgery. Nevertheless, clinicians are often sceptical about the efficacy of the drug, and concerns have risen on possible side effects and tolerability. In this review, we analyse current evidence to support the use of the drug, as well as possible harms and risks related to drug interactions, reaching the conclusion that colchicine is safe and useful in recurrent pericarditis, if specific precautions are followed, although less evidence supports its use for the treatment of acute pericarditis, where colchicine remains optional and there is a need for further multicentre confirmatory studies. This paper also reviews specific dosing and precautions for the clinical use.

Key Words: Colchicine • Pericarditis • Prevention • Therapy


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 The Annals of PharmacotherapyHome page
I f. Kuo, G. J Pearson, and S. L Koshman
Colchicine for the Primary and Secondary Prevention of Pericarditis: An Update
Ann. Pharmacother., December 1, 2009; 43(12): 2075 - 2081.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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