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

Figures

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  Figure 1. Pericardial drain insertion in a patient with COVID-19 infection, large pericardial effusion, and bilateral pneumonia. Red arrow—pericardial drain. Green arrows—parietal pericardium. Blue arrows—visceral pericardium. Yellow arrows—pulmonary infiltrate.

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  Figure 2. Transthoracic echocardiography of a COVID-19 patient before (panels (A–D)) and after pericardiocentesis (panels (E,F)). (A)—Parasternal long axis view, diastolic RV free wall collapse (red arrow) due to high pressure in the pericardial space, due to a large circumferential pericardial effusion. (B)—Short axis view M-Mode at the level of the aortic valve showing diastolic collapse of the RV free wall (red arrow). (C)—Apical 4-chamber view PW Doppler of the mitral flow showing respiratory variations between beats (yellow arrows). (D)—Apical 4-chamber view PW Doppler of the left ventricular outflow tract systolic flow showing low VTI, indicating low stroke volume. (E)—Apical 4-chamber view PW Doppler of the mitral flow showing normalization of mitral flow pattern. (F)—Apical 4-chamber view PW Doppler of the LVOT systolic flow showing normal VTI, indicating normal stroke volume.

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  Figure 3. Point-of-care ultrasound of a patient with clinical signs of tamponade. The picture is a screenshot from a mobile phone, as at this point of care ultrasound devices in our institution do not produce DICOM images but rather allow real-time imaging only.

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  Figure 4. Kaplan–Meier of cumulative survival by period (p = 0.60).