Pharmacists’ Role in the Management of Acute and Recurrent Pericarditis: Inpatient and Outpatient Perspectives

Pharmacists are qualified to provide valued care to patients inflicted with cardiovascular-related disorders. Although the role of pharmacists regarding the care of patients with cardiovascular disease has been previously described, there is currently no literature describing the role of pharmacists in the management of patients with pericarditis, specifically in patients with viral or idiopathic etiologies of pericarditis. Much of the management of idiopathic pericarditis, whether acute or recurrent, is a combination of pharmacotherapy, consisting of aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory therapies, colchicine, corticosteroids, and/or immunotherapies. Therefore, pharmacists in any practice setting (ie, inpatient or outpatient) have the opportunity to provide an integral role in ensuring adherence to guideline-based care related to the management of acute or recurrent idiopathic pericarditis, optimizing patients’ use of pharmacotherapy, preventing adverse drug events such as drug–drug and drug–disease interactions, resolving managed care-related issues, providing care transitions activities that emphasize medication reconciliation and patient education, and evaluating the cost-effectiveness of the pharmacotherapies used to treat acute and recurrent idiopathic pericarditis. This review describes the role of pharmacists in the management of acute and recurrent idiopathic pericarditis within the inpatient and outpatient practice settings, with an emphasis on specialty practice areas, such as the emergency department, intensive care and medicine units within the hospital, ambulatory care–based practices, community pharmacy, and managed care pharmacy.