Spontaneous massive pneumopericardium in a patient with COVID-19

Pneumomediastinum and Pneumopericardium as Uncommon Complications of COVID-19 Infection: A Review Article

There is an emerging body of literature describing an increasing incidence of pneumomediastinum and, to a lesser extent, pneumopericardium as a complication of COVID-19. However, the literature lacks information regarding patients' characteristics and a general view of this unusual condition. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the current literature on this phenomenon. In this study, we summarize the risk factors/etiology, imaging modalities, management, and prognosis of known cases in the literature. In total, 48 articles were included in the study, ranging from case reports to case series. Most patients were male (83.3%). The overall mortality rate was 27.1% and the recovery rate was 62.5%.

Isolated Pneumopericardium: A Rare Complication Secondary to COVID-19 Infection

Pneumopericardium in the setting of COVID-19 is a rare incident. Typically, COVID-19 manifests with respiratory failure, cytokine storm, and gastrointestinal and cardiac symptoms. Chest X-ray (CXR) shows patchy peripheral opacities in bilateral lung fields and computed tomography (CT) shows multifocal ground-glass opacities in a COVID-19 patient. However, CXR is relatively less specific when compared to CT. In this case report, we present a case of isolated pneumopericardium (without pneumomediastinum) in a young female patient with COVID-19 pneumonia. Not only is the mechanism of development of pneumopericardium in COVID-19 patients poorly understood, but it is also considered a bad prognostic factor that leads to mortality.

Pneumomediastinum in COVID-19: A series of three cases and review of literature

Coronavirus disease-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome Corona virus-2 is characterised by wide heterogeneity in clinical presentation. The typical radiographic findings in COVID-19 include bilateral ground-glass opacities and/or consolidations predominantly affecting the lower lobes and posterior segments of lungs. Other rare abnormal radiographic findings include pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum and pneumopericardium. There has been an increased incidence of pneumomediastinum, a rare but potentially life-threatening complication during this pandemic. It may be spontaneous or secondary. Pneumomediastinum may be due to barotrauma, cytokine storm induced diffuse alveolar injury or direct viral infection of type I and type II pneumocytes. The presence of pneumomediastinum in COVID-19 patients may indicate extensive alveolar membrane destruction and those patients need close monitoring. There are no consensus guidelines in managing COVID-19 patients with pneumomediastinum. Higher mortality rates (70.58%) are reported in intubated COVID-19 patients with pneumomediastinum. The development of pneumomediastinum in COVID-19 should be considered as a poor prognostic factor.