Mycobacterium kansasii Pericarditis in Patients with AIDS

Pericardial effusion has been reported to occur in up to 38% of patients with AIDS. Many different etiologies for pericarditis have been described. In some instances, such infections have caused severe hemodynamic complications and life-threatening conditions. Mycobacterium kansasii is known to cause pulmonary and disseminated infections in immunocompromised patients, including those with AIDS; however, to the best of our knowledge, pericarditis due to an infection with this organism has not been described. We report the first three cases of M. kansasii pericarditis in patients with AIDS.