UNLABELLED: Benign acute pericarditis is a common disorder. Although, at first glance, its management appears well defined, the guidelines issued by professional societies with respect to optimal treatment and length of its administration remain vague. METHODS: a brief, anonymous questionnaire probing into treatment practices was sent in April 2005 to all cardiologists of Brittany. RESULTS: we collected 164 analyzable questionnaires out of 248 submitted (66%). The initial investigations in presence of acute pericarditis included an electrocardiogram in 100% of cases, an echocardiogram in 95%, and screening biochemistry in 93% of cases. Systematic hospitalisation was advised by only 24% of cardiologists. Aspirin was prescribed as first choice treatment in 92.5% of cases. Duration of treatment recommendations varied widely, from <5 days by 2.5%, between 5 and 10 days by 25.5%, 11 and 15 days by 23.0%, 16 to 21 days by 35.3%, and for >21 days by 14% of cardiologists. Hospital-based cardiologists were more likely to systematically hospitalise their patients than outpatient practice-based physicians (79.5% versus 5.1%; p<0.001) as well as to order an initial biochemical screening tests (100% versus 81.4%, p<0.01). Cardiologists <42 years of age recommended significantly fewer hospitalisations than older physicians (6.8% versus 36.4%: p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: the management of acute, benign pericarditis was limited nearly exclusively to the prescription of aspirin. Duration of treatment varied widely. These observations are concordant with data published in the literature (where the recommended duration of treatment is systematically missing).