ABSTRACT
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandmic, more patients are presenting with complications late after acute myocardial infarction. We report the case of a 71-year-old man who delayed seeking medical care for 2 weeks, despite progressive shortness of breath, cough, and tactile fever, for fear of contracting COVID-19 in the hospital. Clinical and echocardiographic evaluation revealed a ventricular septal rupture secondary to acute myocardial infarction. The patient underwent urgent cardiac catheterization, followed by successful saphenous vein grafting to the left anterior descending coronary artery and open surgical repair of the ventricular septal rupture with a bovine pericardial patch. This case highlights a potential long-lasting negative effect that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on the care-seeking behavior and health of patients with acute cardiovascular disease.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Cardiac Catheterization/methods , Coronary Artery Bypass/methods , Fear , Patient Acceptance of Health Care/psychology , ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction , Ventricular Septal Rupture , Aged , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/psychology , Coronary Angiography/methods , Echocardiography/methods , Electrocardiography/methods , Humans , Male , SARS-CoV-2 , ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction/complications , ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction/diagnosis , ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction/physiopathology , ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction/surgery , Time-to-Treatment/trends , Treatment Outcome , Ventricular Septal Rupture/diagnosis , Ventricular Septal Rupture/etiology , Ventricular Septal Rupture/physiopathology , Ventricular Septal Rupture/surgeryABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIM: First reported in December of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has had a profound impact on the implementation of care. Here, we describe our institutional experience with a rapid influx of patients at the epicenter of the pandemic. METHODS: We retrospectively review our experience with the departments of cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, anesthesia, and critical care medicine and summarize protocols developed in the midst of the pandemic. RESULTS: The rapid influx of patients requiring an intensive level of care required a complete restructuring of units, including the establishment of a new COVID-19 negative unit for the care of patients requiring urgent or emergent non-COVID-19 related care including open-heart surgery. This unique unit allowed for the delivery of safe and effective care in the epicenter of the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: Here, we demonstrate the response of a large tertiary academic medical center to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we demonstrate how rapid structural changes can allow for the continued delivery of cardiac surgical care with similar outcomes as those reported before the pandemic.