[Tuberculous pericarditis: still a relevant disease].

Vaccination against tuberculosis is not an obligation anymore in France, except for children at risk, but this disease remains not so rare, including its extrapulmonary forms. The authors report the case of a 27-year-old Madagascan HIV seronegative patient, who developed a pericardial effusion when coming back from a long stay in Madagascar. An anti-inflammatory treatment and then a probabilistic antibiotic treatment were ineffective, and at the same time echocardiographic signs of tamponade appeared. As a consequence, it was decided to perform a surgical pericardial drainage and a biopsy, and to introduce an antituberculosis chemotherapy, given the epidemiologic status. The course was then quickly favorable. The presence of granulomatous inflammation on the biopsy and an elevated pericardial adenosine deaminase activity level retrospectively supported the diagnosis of tuberculous pericarditis.