Delayed presentation of acute coronary syndrome with mechanical complication during COVID-19 pandemic: a case report.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a global pandemic on 11 March 2020. We report a patient with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) who presented late due to fears of contracting COVID-19. CASE SUMMARY: A 65-year-old man with a history of hypertension presented late to the emergency department (ED) with AMI. He gave a 2-month history of exertional angina but avoided seeking medical consult due to fears of contracting COVID-19. On the day of admission, he had 4 h of severe chest pain before presenting to the ED. He was hypotensive and tachycardic on arrival. Electrocardiogram showed inferolateral ST-elevation myocardial infarction. Chest radiograph revealed widened superior mediastinum and bedside echocardiogram revealed inferoseptal and inferolateral hypokinesia with features of cardiac tamponade. An urgent computed tomography aortogram showed possible left ventricular (LV) wall perforation with resulting haemopericardium and cardiac tamponade. Subsequent coronary angiogram showed 100% occlusion of mid left circumflex artery and a contained LV wall rupture was confirmed with LV ventriculogram. He was transferred to a tertiary centre and underwent successful emergency surgical repair. DISCUSSION: Our index case demonstrates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health seeking behaviour due to fears of contracting COVID-19 and the ensuing impact of delayed medical intervention. Cardiologists worldwide are seeing an alarming rate of rare complications of AMI in patients who present late. Physicians need to be aware of this phenomenon and have an active role to play in public education.

Conventional vs high-sensitive troponins in acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac troponins (cTn), either conventional or high-sensitive (hscTn) assays, are often performed during acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). OBJECTIVES: To compare factors affecting abnormal conventional cTn and hscTn. METHODS: We retrospectively studied data from AECOPD patients with conventional or hscTn performed at presentation. Binary logistic regression was used to identify predictors for abnormal conventional cTn (>0.5 ug/L) and hscTn (>40 ng/L). RESULTS: There were 466 patients in the conventional cTn and 313 patients in the hscTn groups. Ischaemic electrocardiographic change was the only significant predictor for abnormal conventional cTn (OR 6.662 [CI 1.233-35.990], p = 0.028) while B-type natriuretic peptide levels (Adj OR 1.004 [CI 1.000-1.006], p = 0.010) and SpO2/FiO2 ratio (Adj OR 0.115 [CI 0.017-0.069], p = 0.026) were significant predictors of abnormal hscTn. CONCLUSIONS: Predictors of abnormal cTn differ between assays and should be taken into consideration when interpreting cTn during AECOPD.

Left ventricular systolic dysfunction with concomitant bradyarrhythmia in a patient with POEMS syndrome: a case report.

BACKGROUND: POEMS syndrome (PS) is a paraneoplastic disorder from plasma cell dyscrasia, characterized by polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal protein, and skin changes. Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs)-driven fluid extracellular matrix expansion plays a key role in this condition. Associated cardiac involvement has been sparsely reported thus far. CASE SUMMARY: A 55-year-old woman with PS presented with a pleural effusion and respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation. Transthoracic echocardiogram revealed left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction with a moderate pericardial effusion. She developed intermittent complete heart block and ventricular standstill, requiring temporary transcutaneous pacing. Further evaluation revealed no significant coronary stenosis on coronary angiogram and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) showed elevated T1 and extracellular volume suggestive of myocardial oedema with possible early cardiac infiltration. She had a dual-chamber permanent pacemaker implanted in view of recurrent high-grade heart block. She was initiated on a daratumumab-based chemotherapy regimen prior to discharge. She recovered well subsequently with a promising clinical response to chemotherapy. DISCUSSION: We describe the first case of LV systolic dysfunction with concomitant significant bradyarrhythmia in a patient with PS. CMR revealed evidence suggestive of LV myocardial oedema and/or possible early infiltration. VEGF overexpression could explain oedema-related LV dysfunction which reversed with adequate diuresis, as well as damage to the conduction system. Early cardiac amyloidosis, which can be associated with PS, is an important differential diagnosis. Pacemaker implantation, adequate diuresis, and definitive chemotherapy are key to the management of concomitant ventricular myocardial and electrical dysfunction in such rare case.