{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]],"date-time":"2026-03-11T17:06:52Z","timestamp":1773248812594,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,12]],"date-time":"2022-08-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1660262400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: SARS-CoV-2 has an extensive tissue tropism due to its ability to attach to the surfaces of cells through different receptors, leading to systemic complications. In this article, we aim to present the prevalence of pericardial effusions in patients with severe COVID-19, to identify the risk factors\/predictors for pericardial involvement, and to evaluate its impact on overall mortality. Materials and Methods: We enrolled 100 patients with severe COVID-19 in our observational cohort study and divided them in two groups: Group A (27 patients with pericardial effusion) and Group B (73 patients without pericardial effusion). We recorded demographic and lifestyle parameters, anthropometric parameters, clinical parameters, inflammation markers, respiratory function parameters, complete blood count, coagulation parameters, and biochemical serum parameters. All patients were evaluated by computer tomography scans within 48 h of admission. Results: The median age was 61 years in both groups and the male\/female ratio was 3.5 vs. 2.8 in Group A vs. Group B. We identified mild pericardial effusion (3\u20134 mm) in 62.9% patients and moderate pericardial effusion (5\u20139 mm) in 37.1% patients, with a median value of 4 [3;6] mm. The patients with pericardial effusion presented with higher percentages of obesity, type-2 diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, and congestive heart failure, without statistical significance. Increased values in cardiac enzymes (myoglobin, CK, CK-MB) and LDH were statistically associated with pericardial effusion. The overall mortality among the participants of the study was 24% (24 patients), 33.3% in Group A and 20.8% in Group B. Conclusions: Pericardial effusion has a high prevalence (27%) among patients with severe forms of COVID-19 and was associated with higher mortality. Pericardial effusion in our study was not associated with the presence of comorbidities or the extent of lung involvement. Overall mortality was 60% higher in patients with pericardial effusion.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina58081093","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,15]],"date-time":"2022-08-15T03:33:20Z","timestamp":1660534400000},"page":"1093","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["Pericardial Involvement in Severe COVID-19 Patients"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"58","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1169-3653","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mihai","family":"Lazar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila, No. 37, Dionisie Lupu Street, Sector 2, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"National Institute for Infectious Diseases Prof. Dr. Matei Bals, No. 1, Calistrat Grozovici Street, District 2, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9560-6264","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ecaterina Constanta","family":"Barbu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila, No. 37, Dionisie Lupu Street, Sector 2, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cristina Emilia","family":"Chitu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila, No. 37, Dionisie Lupu Street, Sector 2, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ana-Maria-Jennifer","family":"Anghel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute for Infectious Diseases Prof. Dr. Matei Bals, No. 1, Calistrat Grozovici Street, District 2, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6359-238X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cristian-Mihail","family":"Niculae","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila, No. 37, Dionisie Lupu Street, Sector 2, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"National Institute for Infectious Diseases Prof. Dr. Matei Bals, No. 1, Calistrat Grozovici Street, District 2, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Eliza-Daniela","family":"Manea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila, No. 37, Dionisie Lupu Street, Sector 2, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"National Institute for Infectious Diseases Prof. Dr. Matei Bals, No. 1, Calistrat Grozovici Street, District 2, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anca-Cristina","family":"Damalan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute for Infectious Diseases Prof. Dr. Matei Bals, No. 1, Calistrat Grozovici Street, District 2, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9757-9201","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adela-Abigaela","family":"Bel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute for Infectious Diseases Prof. Dr. Matei Bals, No. 1, Calistrat Grozovici Street, District 2, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Raluca-Elena","family":"Patrascu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila, No. 37, Dionisie Lupu Street, Sector 2, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"National Institute for Infectious Diseases Prof. 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