Coxiella burnetii pericarditis: Report of 15 cases and review

Q fever is characterized by its clinical polymorphism, and pericarditis ass ociated with Q fever has occasionally been described. Herein we report 15 c ases of Coxiella burnetii pericarditis, 9 from our data bank and 6 encounte red within the past 12 months. Three patients presented with life-threateni ng tamponade. We compare our cases with the 18 previously reported and with 60 Q fever-matched controls at our center. This study showed that Q fever pericarditis can present as acute as well as chronic disease; we describe r elapse after 6 months in association with a serological profile compatible with the chronic form of disease (phase I C. burnetii IgG titer of greater than or equal to 800). Discriminant factors among patients and controls are age of >52 years (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 5.66), the occurrence of gener al symptoms such as arthralgias or myalgias (adjusted OR, 6.54), and a norm al erythrocyte sedimentation rate (adjusted OR, 16.37). No specific symptom s or underlying cardiac predispositions are observed.