Abstract
A 13-year-old girl was admitted with congestive heart failure, edema, ascites, and jaundice. There was an apical pansystolic murmur of mitral insufficiency and marked cardiomegaly. Her venous pressure was ele-vated. Despite medical treatment her condition deteriorated, hepatic and renal failure as well as disseminated intravascular coagulation ensued, leading to her death.
At post mortem she was found to have rheumatic mitral valvulitis and constrictive pericarditis. The pathologic picture of pericarditis was nonspecific, but in presence of a positive skin test for tuberculosis the latter is considered to be the most likely cause of the pericarditis, nevertheless, rheumatic etiology of pericarditis in this case cannot be excluded. The presence of rheumatic heart disease and cardiomegaly may have led to the exacerbation of symptoms and signs of constrictive pericarditis and severe right heart failure
