Possible Radiation Pericarditis Precipitated by Actinomycin D

Actinomycin D was associated temporally with the onset of a pericardial effusion in a man who had received 4,000 r to the mediastinum 21 months earlier. No tumor, infection, or other etiology was found to explain the pericardial effusion. Because of the strong temporal association and absence of recurrence after resolution, the case suggests that actinomycin D precipitated a probable radiation pericarditis.