A 40-year-old woman who had been treated for Takayasu's arteritis was admitted to the hospital with fever, fatigue, malaise, and severe chest pain. Computed tomography of the chest demonstrated massive pericardial effusion and bilateral pleural effusion. In laboratory data, the C-reactive protein was high at 22.0 mg/dL, and erythrocyte sedi mentation rate was also high at 80 mm/hr. The diagnosis was pericarditis with a recur rence of the systemic inflammatory process of Takayasu's arteritis. The patient was treated with methylprednisolone pulse therapy. Her massive pericardial effusion disap peared without pericardiocentesis.
