SARS-CoV-2-related Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Adult complicated by myocarditis and cardiogenic shock.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Adult (MIS-A) is a rare COVID-19 complication, presenting as fever with laboratory evidence of inflammation, severe illness requiring hospitalization and multisystem organ involvement. We report on a 25-year-old man presenting with fever, rash, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting following prior asymptomatic COVID-19 infection. He developed refractory shock and type 1 respiratory insufficiency requiring mechanical ventilation. Diagnostic testing revealed significant inflammation, anemia, thrombocytopenia, acute kidney injury, hepatosplenomegaly, colitis, lymphadenopathy and myocarditis necessitating inotropy. Ventilatory, vasopressor and inotropic support was weaned following pulse corticosteroids and intravenous immunoglobulins. Heart failure therapy was started. Short-term follow-up shows resolution of inflammation and cardiac dysfunction.

Antimicrobial prescription in severe COVID-19 and CAP: a matched case-control study.

BACKGROUND: In severe coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19), a high and potentially excessive use of antimicrobials for suspected bacterial co-infection and intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired infections has been repeatedly reported. OBJECTIVES: To compare an ICU cohort of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) with a cohort of severe COVID-19 pertaining to co-infections, ICU-acquired infections and associated antimicrobial consumption. METHODS: We retrospectively compared a cohort of CAP patients with a cohort of COVID-19 patients matched according to organ failure, ICU length of stay (LOS) and ventilation days. Patient data such as demographics, infection focus, probability and severity, ICU severity scores and ICU and in-hospital mortality, days of antimicrobial therapy (DOT) and number of antimicrobial prescriptions, using an incremental scale, were registered and analysed. The total number of cultures (sputum, urinary, blood cultures) was collected and corrected for ICU LOS. FINDINGS: CAP patients (n = 148) were matched to COVID-19 patients (n = 74). Significantly less sputum cultures (68.2% versus 18.9%, P < 0.05) and bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL) (73.7% versus 36.5%, P < 0.05) were performed in COVID-19 patients. Six (8.1%) COVID-19 patients were diagnosed with a co-infection. Respectively, 58 of 148 (39.2%) CAP and 38 of 74 (51.4%) COVID-19 patients (P = 0.09) developed ICU-acquired infections. Antimicrobial distribution, both in the number of prescriptions and DOT, was similar in both cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: We found a low rate of microbiologically confirmed bacterial co-infection and a high rate of ICU-acquired infections in COVID-19 patients. Infection probabilities, antimicrobial prescriptions and DOT were comparable with a matched CAP cohort.