Publication Date
9-1-2021
Journal
The Texas Heart Institute Journal
DOI
10.14503/THIJ-20-7390
PMID
34652434
Publication Date(s)
September 2021
Language
English
PMCID
PMC8717746
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
10-15-2021
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post Print
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
COVID-19, Fear, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, SARS-CoV-2, ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction
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) pandemic, social distancing guidelines have negatively affected the care-seeking behavior of patients with chronic medical conditions, including those with cardiovascular disease. We report the case of a 60-year-old man with vague gastrointestinal symptoms who waited more than 1 week to seek treatment for fear of COVID-19 infection. On presentation at another hospital, he was found to have had an anterior myocardial infarction, and he underwent percutaneous coronary intervention to stent an occluded proximal left anterior descending coronary artery. Subsequently, the patient experienced refractory cardiogenic shock and, during his transfer to our hospital, refractory ventricular tachycardia, which ultimately proved fatal.