CONSTRICTIVE PERICARDITIS DURING SARS-COV-2 INFECTION: A CASE REPORT

Abstract

Abstract In our Department we witnessed numerous cases of pericarditis at the end of summer 2023, including that of a 44-year-old patient suffering from rheumatoid arthritis with breath-taking chest pain and fever. Objectively no rubbing, but mild-moderate pericardial effusion. On the EKG diffuse anomalies of ventricular repolarization; increased inflammation indices with negative troponin; positive Sars-Cov-2 PCR. During hospitalization, despite the improvement of clinical parameters, dyspnea persisted. On the control echocardiogram, disappearance of the pericardial effusion, but thickening of the pericardial sheets associated with a "notch" of the interventricular septum and an anomalous Doppler profile in the suprahepatic vein. These findings were subsequently confirmed by cardiac MRI, with diagnostic criteria for constrictive pericarditis. On the basis of these data, therapy with high doses of NSAIDs and colchicine was established. The patient is currently followed periodically by our clinics and feels well. In the literature, constrictive pericarditis is generally secondary to chronic conditions; in this case the contribution of Sars-Cov-2 infection and rheumatoid arthritis cannot be excluded.