{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,3]],"date-time":"2026-02-03T01:44:22Z","timestamp":1770083062878,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]],"date-time":"2026-02-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769990400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>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 &gt;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 (\u03c72 = 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.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics16030464","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]],"date-time":"2026-02-02T14:12:46Z","timestamp":1770041566000},"page":"464","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Patients Admitted with Pericardial Effusion"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-4937-2032","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Amir","family":"Shabtay","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Division, Soroka University Medical Center, P.O. Box 151, Be\u2019er Sheva 84101, Israel"},{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 1 Ben Gurion Boulevard, Be\u2019er Sheva, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2720-9934","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Iftach","family":"Sagy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 1 Ben Gurion Boulevard, Be\u2019er Sheva, Israel"},{"name":"Rheumatology Unit, Soroka University Medical Center, P.O. Box 151, Be\u2019er Sheva 84101, Israel"},{"name":"Clinical Research Center, Soroka University Medical Center, P.O. Box 151, Be\u2019er Sheva 84101, Israel"},{"name":"Internal Medicine Division, Soroka University Medical Center, P.O. Box 151, Be\u2019er Sheva 84101, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elizaveta","family":"Rabaev","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 1 Ben Gurion Boulevard, Be\u2019er Sheva, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hezzy","family":"Shmueli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Division, Soroka University Medical Center, P.O. Box 151, Be\u2019er Sheva 84101, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Leonid","family":"Barski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 1 Ben Gurion Boulevard, Be\u2019er Sheva, Israel"},{"name":"Internal Medicine Division, Soroka University Medical Center, P.O. Box 151, Be\u2019er Sheva 84101, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"135","DOI":"10.4330\/wjc.v3.i5.135","article-title":"Diagnosis and management of pericardial effusion","volume":"3","year":"2011","journal-title":"World J. Cardiol."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1186","DOI":"10.1093\/eurheartj\/ehs372","article-title":"Management of pericardial effusion","volume":"34","author":"Imazio","year":"2013","journal-title":"Eur. Heart J."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1093\/ehjcr\/ytaa287","article-title":"Pericardial effusion in patients with COVID-19: Case series","volume":"4","author":"Sauer","year":"2020","journal-title":"Eur. Heart J. Case Rep."},{"key":"ref_4","first-page":"e9074","article-title":"Acute Effusive Pericarditis: A Late Complication of COVID-19","volume":"12","author":"Fox","year":"2020","journal-title":"Cureus"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"471","DOI":"10.1161\/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.056135","article-title":"Myocarditis with COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines","volume":"144","author":"Bozkurt","year":"2021","journal-title":"Circulation"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1250","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.mm6936a4","article-title":"Delay or Avoidance of Medical Care Because of COVID-19\u2013Related Concerns\u2014United States, June 2020","volume":"69","author":"Czeisler","year":"2020","journal-title":"MMWR. Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"684","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMra022643","article-title":"Acute Cardiac Tamponade","volume":"349","author":"Spodick","year":"2003","journal-title":"N. Engl. J. Med."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zamorano, J.L., Bax, J.J., and Rademakers, F.E. (2010). The ESC Textbook of Cardiovascular Imaging, European Society of Cardiology. [2nd ed.].","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-84882-421-8"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"477","DOI":"10.1136\/heartjnl-2018-313532","article-title":"Outcomes of idiopathic chronic large pericardial effusion","volume":"105","author":"Imazio","year":"2019","journal-title":"Heart"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4241","DOI":"10.1007\/s11606-022-07805-w","article-title":"Missing Care: The Initial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on CKD Care Delivery","volume":"37","author":"Diamantidis","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Gen. Intern. Med."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"237","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2021.24294","article-title":"Trends in US Ambulatory Care Patterns During the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2019\u20132021","volume":"327","author":"Mafi","year":"2022","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"96","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2020.9972","article-title":"Admissions to Veterans Affairs Hospitals for Emergency Conditions During the COVID-19 Pandemic","volume":"324","author":"Baum","year":"2020","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2126334","DOI":"10.1001\/jamanetworkopen.2021.26334","article-title":"Gastrointestinal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan","volume":"4","author":"Kuzuu","year":"2021","journal-title":"JAMA Netw. Open"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1484","DOI":"10.1093\/jnci\/djab097","article-title":"Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast Cancer Mortality in the US: Estimates from Collaborative Simulation Modeling","volume":"113","author":"Alagoz","year":"2021","journal-title":"JNCI J. Natl. Cancer Inst."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Popescu, A., Craina, M., Pantea, S., Pirvu, C., Chiriac, V.D., Marincu, I., Bratosin, F., Bogdan, I., Hosin, S., and Citu, C. (2022). COVID-19 Pandemic Effects on Cervical Cancer Diagnosis and Management: A Population-Based Study in Romania. Diagnostics, 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics12040907"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"954","DOI":"10.3349\/ymj.2021.62.10.954","article-title":"Nationwide Social Distancing and the Epidemiology of Severe Acute Respiratory Infections","volume":"62","author":"Lee","year":"2021","journal-title":"Yonsei Med. J."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2076","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/ciaa1543","article-title":"The Impact of Social Distancing for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 on Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Influenza Burden","volume":"72","author":"Edwards","year":"2021","journal-title":"Clin. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gracia-Ramos, A.E., Martin-Nares, E., and Hern\u00e1ndez-Molina, G. (2021). New Onset of Autoimmune Diseases Following COVID-19 Diagnosis. Cells, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/cells10123592"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jamal, M., Bangash, H.I., Habiba, M., Lei, Y., Xie, T., Sun, J., Wei, Z., Honf, Z., Shao, L., and Zhang, Q. (2021). Immune Dysregulation and System Pathology in COVID-19. Virulence, Bellwether Publishing, Ltd.","DOI":"10.1080\/21505594.2021.1898790"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1225","DOI":"10.1016\/j.echo.2010.10.005","article-title":"Focused Cardiac Ultrasound in the Emergent Setting: A Consensus Statement of the American Society of Echocardiography and American College of Emergency Physicians","volume":"23","author":"Labovitz","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Am. Soc. Echocardiogr."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"128","DOI":"10.15441\/ceem.16.169","article-title":"Emergency department point-of-care ultrasonography improves time to Pericardiocentesis for clinically significant effusions","volume":"4","author":"Alpert","year":"2017","journal-title":"Clin. Exp. Emerg. Med."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"737","DOI":"10.1080\/23744235.2021.1924397","article-title":"Long COVID or post-COVID-19 syndrome: Putative pathophysiology, risk factors, and treatments","volume":"53","author":"Yong","year":"2021","journal-title":"Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1157","DOI":"10.1093\/eurheartj\/ehac031","article-title":"Long COVID: Post-Acute sequelae of COVID-19 with a cardiovascular focus","volume":"43","author":"Raman","year":"2022","journal-title":"Eur. Heart J."}],"container-title":["Diagnostics"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-4418\/16\/3\/464\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]],"date-time":"2026-02-02T14:31:59Z","timestamp":1770042719000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-4418\/16\/3\/464"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]]},"references-count":23,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]}},"alternative-id":["diagnostics16030464"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/diagnostics16030464","relation":{},"ISSN":["2075-4418"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2075-4418","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]]}}}