Rationale and design of the COPPS trial: a randomised, placebo-controlled, multicentre study on the use of colchicine for the primary prevention of postpericardiotomy syndrome.

Rationale: Colchicine seems to be well tolerated and effective in the treatment and prevention of pericarditis. A preliminary clinical trial has shown that colchicine may be considered not only for the treatment of postpericardiotomy syndrome (PPS), but also for its primary prevention.

Study Design: The COPPS study is a multicentre, double-blind, randomised trial.

Myopericarditis versus viral or idiopathic acute pericarditis.

Objective: To investigate the relative incidence, clinical presentation and prognosis of myopericarditis among patients with idiopathic or viral acute pericarditis.

Design: Prospective observational clinical cohort study.

Setting: Two general hospitals from an urban area of 220 000 inhabitants.

Indicators of poor prognosis of acute pericarditis.

Background: The clinical search for indicators of poor prognosis of acute pericarditis may be useful for clinical triage of patients at high risk of specific causal conditions or complications. The aim of the present article is to assess the relationship between clinical features at presentation and specific causes or complications.

Methods And Results: A total of 453 patients aged 17 to 90 years (mean age 52+/-18 years, 245 men) with acute pericarditis (post-myocardial infarction pericarditis was excluded) were prospectively evaluated from January 1996 to August 2004.

Colchicine as first-choice therapy for recurrent pericarditis: results of the CORE (COlchicine for REcurrent pericarditis) trial.

Background: Colchicine seems to be a good drug for treating recurrences of pericarditis after conventional treatment failure, but no clinical trial has tested the effects of colchicine as first-line drug for the treatment of the first recurrence of pericarditis.

Methods: A prospective, randomized, open-label design was used to investigate the safety and efficacy of colchicine therapy as adjunct to conventional therapy for the first episode of recurrent pericarditis. Eighty-four consecutive patients with a first episode of recurrent pericarditis were randomly assigned to receive conventional treatment with aspirin alone or conventional treatment plus colchicine (1.

Colchicine in addition to conventional therapy for acute pericarditis: results of the COlchicine for acute PEricarditis (COPE) trial.

Background: Colchicine is effective and safe for the treatment and prevention of recurrent pericarditis and might ultimately serve as the initial mode of treatment, especially in idiopathic cases. The aim of this work was to verify the safety and efficacy of colchicine as an adjunct to conventional therapy for the treatment of the first episode of acute pericarditis.

Methods And Results: A prospective, randomized, open-label design was used.