Cardiac tamponade due to Lancefield group A beta haemolytic streptococcal pericarditis.

Untreated bacterial pericarditis is usually fatal. Pericardial drainage combined with antibiotic treatment has brought the mortality rate down but even now this is around 40%.' 2 Purulent pericarditis usually occurs in the setting of major underlying disease and only rarely is the pericardium the primary site of infection.2 We report the case of a boy who survived purulent pericarditis caused by a ,B haemolytic streptococcus, Lancefield group A (Streptoccus pyogenes), and who presented with cardiac tamponade.