Polyserositis as a Post–Covid-19 Complication

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONPolyserositis is described as infl ammation with eff usion of more than one serous membrane. There is very little published literature linking it to COVID-19 as a late complication.OBJECTIVE Present and describe a case of post-COVID-19 polyserositis.METHODS Data were collected from the medical record of a female patient admitted for fainting spells and marked weakness. The patient underwent a clinical evaluation, additional hematology, imaging and histopathology tests, and a surgical procedure. RESULTSWe present the case of a 57-year-old female patient admitted to hospital for fainting spells and marked weakness, four months after COVID-19 infection. She also had a history of obesity, asthma, type 2 diabetes mellitus and a cholecystectomy in December 1992 for gallstones. Clinical assessment revealed pericardial eff usion and bilateral pleural eff usion, in addition to a tumor-like lesion outside the pericardium, proximal to the right ventricular wall. A surgical procedure and fi ndings from additional tests led to diagnoses of thymic remnants and polyserositis.CONCLUSIONS This is a case of polyserositis in a post-COVID-19 patient. After other causes of polyserositis were ruled out, and since there is a likely physiological and pathogenic mechanism operating between the two diseases, the polyserositis was determined to be a late complication of COVID-19. To date, it is the second case reported in the world and the fi rst reported in Cuba.

Causes of Polyserositis: A Systematic Review

“…Currently, polyserositis (PS) remains a challenging entity, which resides both in the fact that there is confusion in terminology, and that it is still understudied. Losada et al [ 1 ] define it as the inflammation, with effusion, of different serous membranes such as the pleura, pericardium and peritoneum at the same time, while other published papers are citing the aforementioned study for the definition of polyserositis [ 2 , 3 ]. However, from a thorough reading, in the study published by Losada et al, the only source of the definition for PS is the Merriam-Webster dictionary, in which it is mentioned that PS is also known as Concato’s disease [ 4 ].…”