The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Patients Admitted with Pericardial Effusion

Background: SARS-CoV-2 infection, its late complications, and SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are known to cause pericardial effusion. We sought to investigate the influence of the COVID-19 outbreak on trends in pericardiocentesis. Methods: We performed a retrospective population study including all >18 years patients undergoing pericardiocentesis in a single tertiary hospital between January 2018 and April 2022. The effusion characteristics and patient outcomes were compared between patients admitted before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Results: 92 patients underwent pericardiocentesis cases during the COVID-19 period compared to 65 patients during the pre-COVID-19 period (χ² = 3.07, p = 0.0796). Only 15% of the post-COVID-19 outbreak cases were related to COVID-19 infection or vaccine. In-hospital mortality was numerically higher during the post-COVID-19 group (7.7% vs. 14.4%), but this difference did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.22). The 90-day mortality was also similar between groups. Conclusions: A numerical, yet statistically insignificant increase in pericardiocentesis was observed following the COVID-19 outbreak. We assume this observation cannot be attributed solely to the virus and vaccines per se. Neglect of other chronic diseases, social distancing, and widespread availability of point-of-care ultrasound may have contributed to this observation.