ABSTRACT
Cardiovascular manifestations and electrocardiographic abnormalities have been reported among some prevalent infections in tropical regions, which lead to a great amount of morbidity and mortality. The major infectious diseases include chikungunya, dengue fever, H1N1 influenza, and coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) in the viral category, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, scrub typhus and tuberculosis in the bacterial category, and malaria in the protozoan parasite category. All these infirmities constitute a foremost infection burden worldwide and have been linked to the various cardiac rhythm aberrancies. So we aimed to identify and compile different studies on these infections and associated acute electrocardiographic (ECG) changes. The search was made in online international libraries like PubMed, Google Scholar, and EMBASE, and 38 most relevant articles, including original research, systematic reviews, and unique case reports were selected. All of them were evaluated thoroughly and information regarding ECG was collected. Myocarditis is the predominant underlying pathology for rhythm disturbance and can be affected either due to the direct pathogenic effect or the abnormal immune system activation. ECG variabilities in some infections like chikungunya, scrub typhus, and leptospirosis are associated with longer hospital stay and poor outcome. Tropical infective diseases are associated with prominent acute cardiac rhythm abnormalities due to myocarditis, which can be identified preliminarily by ECG changes.
ABSTRACT
Rationale: COVID-19 has a wide range of clinical presentations requiring a high index of suspicion for diagnosing patients presenting with extrapulmonary manifestations. Among them, patients with cardiovascular involvement have a high mortality.<br>Patient's concerns: A 50-year-old male patient with COVID-19 infection presented with multiple syncopal episodes, myalgia, and mild respiratory symptoms.<br>Diagnosis: Mild COVID-19 infection with complete heart block.<br>Interventions: Temporary pacing followed by permanent pacemaker insertion 10 days after the onset.<br>Outcomes: The patient was managed as per COVID-19 protocol in an isolation ward, and his condition improved but remained pacemaker dependent until a repeat RT-PCR for COVID-19 tested negative, after which he was shifted back to the cardiac care unit for permanent pacemaker insertion. The patient was discharged after inflammatory markers were normal and clinical condition was completely stable.<br>Lessons: COVID-19 has a wide range of clinical presentations, and extrapulmonary manifestations, especially, cardiovascular involvement can not be ignored.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: We describe a new service model, the Orthopaedic Assessment Unit (OAU), designed to provide care for trauma patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients without COVID-19 symptoms and isolated musculoskeletal injuries were redirected to the OAU. METHODS: We prospectively reviewed patients throughput during the peak of the global pandemic (7 May 2020 to 7 June 2020) and compared with our historic service provision (7 May 2019 to 7 June 2019). The Mann-Whitney and Fisher Exact tests were used to test the statistical significance of data. RESULTS: A total of 1,147 patients were seen, with peak attendances between 11am and 2pm; 96% of all referrals were seen within 4h. The majority of patients were seen by orthopaedic registrars (52%) and nurse practitioners (44%). The majority of patients suffered from sprains and strains (39%), followed by fractures (22%) and wounds (20%); 73% of patients were discharged on the same day, 15% given follow up, 8% underwent surgery and 3% were admitted but did not undergo surgery. Our volume of trauma admissions and theatre cases decreased by 22% and 17%, respectively (p=0.058; 0.139). There was a significant reduction of virtual fracture clinic referrals after reconfiguration of services (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Rapid implementation of a specialist OAU during a pandemic can provide early definitive trauma care while exceeding national waiting time standards. The fall in trauma attendances was lower than anticipated. The retention of orthopaedic staff in the department to staff the unit and maintain a high standard of care is imperative.