Acute pericarditis and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2: Case report

We present the case of a 51-year-old patient with acute pericarditis as the dominant manifestation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The patient was admitted to the emergency department during a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak with a suspected ST-elevation myocardial infarction. A coronary angiogram was normal. Real-time reverse transcriptase PCR for the detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2 in a nasopharyngeal swab was positive. Laboratory tests revealed an increased white blood cell count, with neutrophilia and lymphocytopenia, elevated level of C-reactive protein, borderline elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and slightly elevated interleukin 6. Echocardiography showed a hyperechogenic pericardium posterolaterally with minimal localized pericardial effusion. A chest computed tomography scan showed a small zone of ground-glass opacity in the right lower lobe (classified as CO-RADS 3). In patients with chest pain, ST elevation on electrocardiogram, a normal coronary angiogram, and suspected COVID-19, we should think of pericarditis as an unusual presentation of SARS-CoV-2 infection.