Life-Threatening Cardiac Tamponade Secondary to COVID-19 Treated with Uniportal Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 outbreak emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and mostly affects the respiratory system but can also affect other organs, including the cardiovascular system. Furthermore, the most common cardiac complications include severe left ventricular dysfunction, acute myocardial injury, and arrhythmias. Life-threatening cardiac tamponade and large pericardial effusion are exceedingly rare complications in patients recovered from COVID-19. Previously, this condition was treated with pericardiocentesis, colchicine, and corticosteroids. CASE REPORT We present the case of a 54-year-old man who recovered from a SARS-CoV-2 infection 7 days before presentation and describe a complicated pericardial effusion with life-threatening cardiac tamponade. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of pericardial effusion with cardiac tamponade that was successfully treated with single port or uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery with an excellent outcome. CONCLUSIONS Life-threatening cardiac tamponade with pericardial effusion is an exceedingly rare complication in patients recovered from COVID-19. Generally, patients diagnosed with pericardial effusion undergo a pericardiocentesis procedure. Although there are multiple treatment options for draining pericardial effusion, the recurrence rate with surgical pericardial window formation is the lowest. However, our patient underwent surgery using a uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery with an excellent outcome.

Pericardial Cytokine "Storm" in a COVID-19 Patient: the Confirmation of a Hypothesis.

Novel Coronavirus Disease in most cases produces mild symptoms which resolve after a few days. Some authors hypothesized that SARS-CoV-2 infection could trigger excessive cytokine production leading to a severe multi-organ disease requiring intensive care admission. Respiratory and neurological symptoms are the most frequently reported manifestation of the disease. Indeed, cardiac involvement is reported mostly as a part of a systemic disease. Few isolated cardiac manifestations of COVID-19 infection have been described. We report herein a case of SARS-CoV-2 related severe isolated pericardial involvement requiring ICU admission due to cardiac tamponade needing urgent drainage. Analysis of pericardial fluid from drainage demonstrated a higher cytokine concentration than blood values. Other causes of pericardial disease, such as autoimmunity, bacterial or other than COVID-19 infection, neoplasms or acute myocardial infarction were also evaluated, but all tests confirmed negative results. The suspicion of isolated involvement of the pericardium was therefore demonstrated by the analysis of cytokines which strongly support our hypothesis.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated constrictive pericarditis.

This report documents a rare case of COVID-19-associated constrictive pericarditis (CP) in the setting of a recent COVID-19 infection. A 55-year-old man with a history of hypertension and gout presented with acute hypoxic respiratory failure and was diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia with progression to acute respiratory distress syndrome. His hospital course was complicated by a large pericardial effusion; an emergent bedside transthoracic echocardiography was concerning for cardiac tamponade, so pericardiocentesis was performed. A workup with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging showed changes consistent with a diagnosis of CP. Viral and idiopathic aetiologies are the most common cause of CP in the developed world, with COVID-19 now a proposed predisposing viral illness. The virus induces systemic inflammation and pericardial changes that can lead to CP physiology. Imaging modalities including echocardiogram and cardiac magnetic resonance play an integral role in confirming the diagnosis.

Rare complication after pericardial window: symptomatic diaphragmatic hernia containing bowel and liver.

A 37-year-old woman presented to her local district general hospital with a cough, pleuritic chest pain and intermittent cyanosis. Eight months prior, she underwent a successful pericardial window for recurrent, symptomatic pericardial effusions. On presentation she was hypoxic but haemodynamically stable. Her chest radiograph raised the suspicion of a diaphragmatic hernia, confirmed by CT imaging. This identified herniation through the diaphragm of the transverse colon and left lobe of the liver resulting in cardiac compression and right ventricular dysfunction. She continued to deteriorate and required emergency intubation to allow safe transfer to a tertiary upper gastrointestinal unit. She underwent a laparotomy and repair of the diaphragmatic hernia with an uneventful inpatient recovery. In the literature, diaphragmatic liver herniation is a recognised complication secondary to trauma or congenital defects, however, to our knowledge, there are currently no cases described following pericardial windowing.

Symptomatic pericardial effusion in the setting of asymptomatic COVID-19 infection: A case report.

RATIONALE: Infection with the severe acute respiratory coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been shown to cause multi-organ involvement including cardiopulmonary serosal layers infection and inflammation. As a result, pericarditis and pericardial effusion may occur with or without COVID-19 related respiratory signs. Due to limitations in sensitivity and specificity of current COVID-19 diagnostic studies, cases that trigger high clinical intuition, even with negative serologic and polymerase chain reaction testing results, may necessitate further diagnostic workup to discover the underlying etiology. PATIENT CONCERNS: Here we present a rare case of pericardial effusion in the setting of asymptomatic COVID-19 infection manifesting with the chief complaint of chest pain. DIAGNOSIS: While undergoing diagnostic workup, the patients first 2 sets of COVID 19 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were negative while a latter RT-PCR test, as well as serology, were positive, leading to the diagnosis of COVID-19 reinfection or subacute presentation of viral infection with pericardial effusion. Echocardiogram depicted large circumferential pericardial effusion with mildly thickened pericardium. INTERVENTIONS: The patient underwent pericardial window placement followed by ibuprofen administration and discharged from the hospital. OUTCOMES: During the follow-up visit patient had no symptoms and echocardiogram demonstrated complete resolution of the effusion. LESSONS: Due to the possible establishment of pericardial effusions and consecutively tamponade even without any COVID-19 related clinical presentation, it is crucial for clinicians to trust their intuition, conduct the appropriate diagnostic tests, find the underlying diagnosis and prevent the devastating consequences.

Acute Myopericarditis with Pericardial Effusion and Cardiac Tamponade in a Patient with COVID-19.

BACKGROUND Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is primarily a respiratory illness. However, with rising numbers of cases, multiple reports of cardiovascular manifestations have emerged. We present a case of COVID-19 infection complicated by myopericarditis and tamponade requiring drainage. CASE REPORT An 82-year-old woman with multiple comorbidities presented with five days of productive cough, fever with chills, and intermittent diarrhea. She tested positive for COVID-19. Index EKG revealed new diffuse T-wave inversions and a prolonged QT interval (>500 ms). Troponin was mildly elevated without any anginal symptoms. Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin were not initiated due to concerns about QT prolongation. The echocardiogram revealed preserved left ventricular (LV) function, a small global pericardial effusion, and apical hypokinesis. Serial echocardiograms revealed an enlarging circumferential pericardial effusion with pacemaker wire reported as 'piercing' the right ventricular (RV) apex alongside early diastolic collapse of the right ventricle, suggesting echocardiographic tamponade. Chest CT revealed extension of the RV pacemaker lead into the pericardial fat. Interestingly, on comparison with a previous chest CT from 2019, similar lead positions were confirmed. Pericardiocentesis was performed with removal of 400 cc exudate. CONCLUSIONS Acute myopericarditis and pericardial effusion can occur in COVID-19 infection, even in the absence of severe pulmonary disease. This case highlights the importance of awareness of rare cardiac manifestations of COVID-19 in the form of acute myopericarditis and cardiac tamponade and their early diagnosis and management.