Trying to Survive A Serious Heart Condition in Time of COVID-19

Authors

  • Josip Varvodic, MD Department of Cardiac and Transplantation Surgery, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia
  • Verica Mikecin, MD Clinical Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia
  • Irzal Hadzibegovic, MD, PhD Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia
  • Marko Kutlesa, MD, PhD University Hospital for Infectious Diseases dr. Fran Mihaljevic
  • Carla Coric, MD Health Centre Zagreb West
  • Igor Rudez, MD, PhD Department of Cardiac and Transplantation Surgery, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1532/hsf.3815

Keywords:

Aortic valve, replacement, Endocarditis, Heart valve prosthesis, Practice guidelines

Abstract

The world has suffered over the past year under COVID-19. Unfortunately, people still are getting sick from other, also severe, diseases. Although the COVID-19 infection is present, patients need treatment for other life-threatening conditions. We present the case of a 36-year-old patient with severe infective endocarditis with a large abscess of the aortic root, who also is COVID-19 positive. Definitive diagnostics and treatment were avoided due to COVID-19 infection. In the end, emergent surgery was indicated due to acute cardiac decompensation and the development of heart failure symptoms, and the patient recovered uneventfully after surgery.

References

Biegel JH, Tomasek KM, Dodd LE, Mehta AK et al. 2020. Remdesivir for treatment of Covid-19-Final Report. N Engl J Med. 383:1813-1826.

Dillinger JG, Benmessauoud FA, Pezel T, Voicu S, Sideris G. 2020. A Plea Not to Forget Infective Endocarditis in COVID-19 Era. JACC: Cardiovasc Imaging, Vol 13. No. 11.

Escola-Verge L, Cuervo G, de Alarcon A, et al. 2020. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis, management and prognosis of infective endocarditis. Clin Microbiol Infect. Nov 28.

Habib G, Lancellotti P, Antunes MJ, et al. 2015. 2015 ESC Guidelines for the management of infective endocarditis: the Task Force for the Management of Infective Endocarditis of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Endorsed by: European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS), the European Association for Nuclear Medicine (EANM). Eur Heart J. 36: 3075–128.

Kang DH, Kim YJ, Kim SH, et al. 2012. Early surgery versus conventional treatment for infective endocarditis. New Engl J Med. 26: 2466– 2473.

Published

2021-04-23

How to Cite

Varvodic, J., Mikecin, V., Hadzibegovic, I., Kutlesa, M., Coric, C., & Rudez, I. (2021). Trying to Survive A Serious Heart Condition in Time of COVID-19. The Heart Surgery Forum, 24(2), E372-E374. https://doi.org/10.1532/hsf.3815

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Article