Encephalitis as a Clinical Manifestation of COVID-19: A Case Series.

COVID-19 is a novel virus which causes a variety of clinical manifestations in the body, some of which are yet to be discovered. The main aim of our study is to highlight the neurological manifestations of COVID-19 as it is still new to the medical world, and to emphasize the fact that the physicians have to be wary of the possibility that patients affected by COVID-19 can present with encephalitis. Only a few studies are available so far regarding the neurological manifestations of this novel virus which highlights the need for this study. We present a case series of 4 patients who were found to have COVID-19 encephalitis. There is still no disease-defining test for diagnosis so the mainstay of diagnosis is exclusion of all the common causes of encephalitis. Brain magnetic resonance imaging and cerebrospinal fluid analysis performs an ancillary in the diagnostic tools. Our study also supports the use of IV tocilizumab (4-8 mg/kg) and IV methylprednisolone (0.5-2 mg/kg) as possible treatment options with good results, as the patients described in our case series responded well to these medications.

Frequency Of Ventricular Septal Rupture As A Complication Of Acute St-Elevation Myocardial Infarction In Patients Presenting To A Tertiary Care Hospital.

Background: Nearly one-third of the world's population dies from cardiovascular disorders, the majority of which are caused by stroke and coronary artery problems and 80 percent of these fatalities occur in impoverished countries. This study was conducted to determine the frequency of ventricular septal rupture in patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction presenting to cardiology unit Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar. Methods: This was descriptive cross sectional research study at the Department of Cardiology, MTI-Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar, from January to July 2020. Detailed history was obtained including duration of symptoms, co-morbidities present and occupation. A thorough clinical examination was done for signs of heart failure and ventricular septal rupture. Patients' demographics, clinical and laboratory parameters were recorded on a pro forma. All the data was analyzed statistically by using SPSS version 24.0. Results: A total of 179 patients were included in our study. Ventricular Septal Rupture (VSR), was recorded in 7 (3.9%) patients having Acute ST elevation of MI. In our study age, obesity, reperfusion therapy, location of MI and history of previous shock were observed to be non significantly (p˂0.05) associated with high incidence of Ventricular Septal Rupture in patients having Acute ST elevation of MI. Conclusion: According to our findings, individuals with PI-VSR have a significant risk of acute-phase death. Furthermore, a significant incidence of acute-phase fatalities has been related to female gender and severe cardiac failure upon admission.

Complete heart block in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2: A case series from a developing country.

Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) has led to a global pandemic and has been the center of attention across the entire medical community. This novel virus was initially thought to affect primarily the respiratory system, but now it is evident that it has a multitude of effects on the human body. Our point of interest is to establish the effect of COVID-19 infection on the conducting system of the heart. We present a case series of four patients who developed complete heart block (CHB) shortly after being infected with COVID-19 without any previous known risk factors of complete heart block. There have only been a few previous case reports on the occurrence of CHB in COVID-19 patients highlighting the importance and the need of our case series to the literature of cardiovascular outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Our case series highlight that COVID-19 can indeed affect the conduction system of the heart and cause CHB in patients who then recovered spontaneously further elucidating the transient nature of cardiovascular effects caused by the novel virus.