The following is a summary of “Incidence and Impact of Acute Pericarditis in Hospitalized Patients With COVID‐19,” published in the October 2023 issue of Cardiology by Li et al.
In this retrospective cohort study, the researchers examined the incidence, associated complications, and clinical impact of acute pericarditis (AP) in hospitalized COVID‐19 patients. Using the National Inpatient Sample 2020 database and International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD‐10) codes, the investigators identified 211,619 patients diagnosed with COVID‐19, among whom 983 individuals (0.46%) had a secondary diagnosis of AP. Patients with COVID‐19 and AP were generally younger and had higher rates of comorbidities such as anemia, cancer, and chronic kidney disease. After propensity‐score matching, the COVID‐19 patients with AP (n=980) showed significantly higher mortality rates, along with increased incidence of adverse events, including cardiac arrest, cardiogenic shock, ventricular arrhythmia, acute kidney injury, acute congestive heart failure, and longer hospital stays compared to the matched non-AP group (n=2936).
Moreover, the total hospitalization charges were considerably higher in the AP group. These findings underscore the rarity of AP as a complication in COVID‐19 patients but highlight its association with severe in-hospital outcomes, emphasizing the need for careful monitoring and management of AP in this patient population.