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Case report
Acute pericarditis as a primary presentation of COVID-19
  1. Rajesh Kumar1,
  2. Jathinder Kumar1,
  3. Caroline Daly2 and
  4. Sadat Ali Edroos2
  1. 1Cardiology, University Hospital Limerick, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland
  2. 2Cardiology, St James Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
  1. Correspondence to Rajesh Kumar; rajesh2k7{at}yahoo.com

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is a highly contagious viral illness which conventionally manifests primarily with respiratory symptoms. We report a case whose first manifestation of COVID-19 was pericarditis, in the absence of respiratory symptoms, without any serious complications. Cardiac involvement in various forms is possible in COVID-19. We present a case where pericarditis, in the absence of the classic COVID-19 signs or symptoms, is the only evident manifestation of the disease. This case highlights an atypical presentation of COVID-19 and the need for a high index of suspicion to allow early diagnosis and limit spread by isolation.

  • pericardial disease
  • global health

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Footnotes

  • Twitter @RajeshK33838720, @saedroos

  • Contributors RK: treated and consented the patient, wrote the main manuscript, collected images and figures. JK: coauthored the manuscript, collected data on investigations. CD: coauthored the manuscript. SAE: coauthored the manuscript.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Patient consent for publication Obtained.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.