Publication Date
7-1-2021
Journal
The Texas Heart Institute Journal
DOI
10.14503/THIJ-20-7356
PMID
PMC8367284
Publication Date(s)
July 2021
Language
English
PMCID
PMC8367284
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
8-12-2021
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post Print
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Aged, COVID-19, Cardiac Catheterization, Coronary Angiography, Coronary Artery Bypass, Echocardiography, Electrocardiography, Fear, Humans, Male, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, SARS-CoV-2, ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction, Time-to-Treatment, Treatment Outcome, Ventricular Septal Rupture
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
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.