Post-cardiac injury syndrome, an uncommon cause of pleurisy: contribution of pleural fluid study

The post-cardiac injury syndrome is an inflammatory process concerning the pericardium, the pleura and/or the pulmonary parenchyma, that develops afte r different kinds of cardiac aggression. The diagnosis can be evoked when s ome clinical and biological results are present but remains one of exclusio n. We report a case of post-cardiac injury syndrome for which we demonstrat e an immunologic involvement of the pleura, The antimyocardial antibodies a nd the low complement index found in the pleura strongly support an immunol ogic process, and this suggests that the analysis of the pleural fluid coul d be useful for the diagnosis of the post-cardiac injury syndrome.