ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: COVID-19 and Fontan physiology have each been associated with an elevated risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), however little is known about the risks and potential consequences of having both. CASE PRESENTATION: A 51 year old male with tricuspid atresia status post Fontan and extracardiac Glenn shunt, atrial flutter, and sinus sick syndrome presented with phlegmasia cerulea dolens (PCD) of the left lower extremity in spite of supratherapeutic INR in the context of symptomatic COVID-10 pneumonia. He was treated with single session, catheter directed mechanical thrombectomy that was well-tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: This report of acute PCD despite therapeutic anticoagulation with a Vitamin K antagonist, managed with emergent mechanical thrombectomy, calls to attention the importance of altered flow dynamics in COVID positive patients with Fontan circulation that may compound these independent risk factors for developing deep venous thrombosis with the potential for even higher morbidity.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Fontan Procedure , Gangrene , Mechanical Thrombolysis , Postoperative Complications , Thrombophlebitis , Tricuspid Atresia , Warfarin/therapeutic use , Amputation, Surgical/methods , Atrial Flutter/drug therapy , Atrial Flutter/etiology , COVID-19/blood , COVID-19/complications , COVID-19/therapy , Fontan Procedure/adverse effects , Fontan Procedure/methods , Gangrene/etiology , Gangrene/surgery , Heart Defects, Congenital/surgery , Humans , Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods , Lower Extremity/blood supply , Lower Extremity/pathology , Lower Extremity/surgery , Male , Mechanical Thrombolysis/adverse effects , Mechanical Thrombolysis/methods , Middle Aged , Phlebography/methods , Postoperative Complications/diagnosis , Postoperative Complications/physiopathology , Postoperative Complications/surgery , Sick Sinus Syndrome/diagnosis , Sick Sinus Syndrome/etiology , Thrombophlebitis/diagnosis , Thrombophlebitis/etiology , Thrombophlebitis/surgery , Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods , Treatment Outcome , Tricuspid Atresia/etiology , Tricuspid Atresia/surgeryABSTRACT
We report a case of a previously healthy 47-year-old female with syncope due to multiple episodes of nodal dysfunction and asystole. During these brief episodes, she was hypoxic in the mid-80's as a result of COVID-19 pneumonia. The patient was admitted and treated for viral pneumonia and found to have normal electrocardiograms (ECG's), normal troponin levels and a normal echocardiogram during her hospital stay. As she recovered from COVID-19, no further episodes of bradycardia or bradyarrhythmia were noted. This case highlights a growing body of evidence that arrhythmias, specifically bradycardia, should be anticipated by prehospital providers as a potential cardiac complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection.