Most people recover in 2 weeks to 3 months. However, pericarditis may come back. This is called recurrent, or chronic, if symptoms or episodes continue. Scarring and thickening of the sac-like covering and the heart muscle may occur when the problem is severe.

Can you get pericarditis more than once?

Anyone can get pericarditis. About 5 percent of people who go to the emergency room for chest pain have pericarditis. About 15 to 30 percent of people with pericarditis will have it more than once, called recurrent pericarditis.

Why does my pericarditis keep coming back?

Dysfunction of the immune system is thought to play a role in recurrent cases of idiopathic pericarditis. Bacteria (notably tuberculosis), parasites and fungi can also be implicated more rarely, but it is unusual for these non-viral infections to be limited to the pericardium.