RVAbstractPlus> Adler Y.

Cardiology Department, Maria Vittoria Hospital, Torino, Italy.
massimo_imazio@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.