Heart transplantation in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: delirium, post-transplant depression, and visitor restrictions; the role of liaison and inpatient psychosomatic treatment-a case report.
Eur Heart J Case Rep
; 5(10): ytab355, 2021 Oct.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1462316
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Heart transplant recipients show a high risk of developing major depression with an increased risk of post-transplant morbidity and mortality. Heart transplant specialists and patients face unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, which have enormous clinical implications such as the increased risk of COVID-19 as well as visitor restrictions with social isolation during the post-transplant inpatient treatment. CASESUMMARY:
We present a case of a 64-year-old woman with end-stage heart failure caused by non-compaction cardiomyopathy who received an orthotopic heart transplant (OHT) without any intra-operative complications. Post-operatively, she showed acute psychotic symptoms in the intensive care unit (ICU) with improvement after switching intravenous tacrolimus treatment to an oral intake. Furthermore, the patient developed severe depressive symptoms with malnutrition and had a prolonged hospitalization. Standard medical care was complemented by intensive psychocardiological treatment to overcome the crisis.CONCLUSION:
High complexity of the post-transplant management after OHT underlines the importance of multidisciplinary teamwork, involving heart transplant specialists and allied mental health professionals. This collaboration led to an excellent long-term result. Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital visitor policies may be scrutinized, carefully looking at the role of social isolation, post-operative experience in the ICU, and medical complications after OHT.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Case report
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Language:
English
Journal:
Eur Heart J Case Rep
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ehjcr
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