Myopericarditis as a Manifestation of Long COVID Syndrome

Abstract

The main presentation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is respiratory. However, there are extrapulmonary manifestations such as myocardial and pericardial injury. The term long COVID syndrome describes the persistence of symptoms in patients who have recovered from the infection. A 31-year-old man presented with mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms for three days. Two weeks later, he developed chest pain, pericardial rub, and pericardial effusion; he underwent echocardiography showing pericarditis and an MRI which revealed inferoseptal hypokinesia and mild global myocardial hyperintensity, cardiac scintigraphy with Ga-67, and an inflammatory process in the myocardium. He was treated with methylprednisolone pulse (1g IV/day) and tapering prednisone (5 mg/day), with gradual evolution of symptoms for one year. In conclusion, this is a patient without comorbidities with clinical, laboratory, and imaging diagnosis of myopericarditis as a manifestation of long COVID syndrome.

Characterization of long COVID-19 manifestations and its associated factors: A prospective cohort study from Iran

“…Since the initiation of the COVID-19 pandemic, various symptoms have been characterized in the acute phase. However, according to the recent reports, symptoms may present or persist after several weeks which is described as long COVID syndrome [ 18 ]. Long COVID can appear following severe, mild or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection as a multisystem illness.…”

Most Common Long COVID Physical Symptoms in Working Age Adults Who Experienced Mild COVID-19 Infection: A Scoping Review

“…Some of the reports described the varied symptoms and attributed them to known syndromes, denoting the multi-organ dysfunction that acute COVID-19 caused even in mild non-hospitalised adult patients [ 103 ]. These published case studies reported long term respiratory complications [ 94 ] cardiac involvement [ 93 , 100 ], neurological dysfunction [ 96 ], and autoimmune dysfunction [ 97 ]. However, the symptoms of these syndromes did reflect the physical symptoms described in the cohort studies.…”

Concomitant acute myopericarditis and multiple systemic arteriovenous thrombosis as a rare manifestation of post-COVID-19 syndrome

“…Only two cases of myopericarditis related to post COVID-19 syndrome in young patients has been reported [8 , 9] . Post-COVID myocarditis manifest itself in two main clinical forms: isolated arrhythmias and systolic dysfunction [10] .…”