Candida pericarditis and tamponade developed in a patient with sterile purulent pericarditis secondary to systemic lupus erythematosus. Therapy with amphotericin B and properly timed surgical intervention led to a clinical and microbiological cure. This article emphasizes the importance of differentiating an infected pericardial effusion from the sterile pericarditis of systemic lupus erythematosus and provides suggested guidelines for the management of that complication.