Although colchicine has been shown to be beneficial in patients with recurrent pericarditis, which is thought to have a large inflammatory component related to an immune response, until now its efficacy in a first episode of acute pericarditis has been uncertain, as these episodes are thought to usually have a viral component that might benefit from an inflammatory response.
In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 240 patients with acute pericarditis and receiving conventional therapy with aspirin or ibuprofen were randomized to colchicine or placebo for 3 months. Colchicine was found effective in reducing the rate of incessant or recurrent pericarditis (the primary outcome of the trial), as well as symptom recurrence at 72 hours, the number of recurrences per patient, and the rate of hospitalization:
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