As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, changing definitions and therapeutics regarding the post-acute sequela of COVID-19, particularly long COVID, have become a subject of great interest and study. The study aims to describe the pathophysiology and discuss different therapeutic agents currently available for long COVID. Another objective is to assess comparative efficacy between different types of vaccines on symptoms of long COVID. A preliminary search was conducted using Ovid Medline, Embase, medRxiv, and NIH COVID-19 portfolios. A total of 16 studies were included in our review. Despite some of the data showing variable results, most of the vaccinated patients reported improvement in long COVID symptoms with no significant difference between various types of vaccines. Further trials are needed to better identify the comparative efficacy of vaccines for long COVID and ascertain other therapeutic modalities.
Background
Acute pancreatitis can rarely present with electrocardiographic changes that imitate myocardial ischemia. Even rarer is for acute pancreatitis to present with ST-segment elevation in contiguous leads, suggestive of an acute coronary syndrome. In this comprehensive review article, we highlight diagnostic challenges and examine possible pathophysiological causes as seen through 34 total cases in which acute pancreatitis has been found to mimic an acute myocardial infarction.
Summary
It has been shown that regardless of the severity of acute pancreatitis, it can be associated with myocardial injury of varying presentation. Thus far, there have been 34 total cases where acute pancreatitis presented with electrocardiographic changes consistent with acute myocardial infarction without true coronary artery thrombosis. An inferior wall ST-elevation myocardial infarction pattern was the most frequently demonstrated. Many hypotheses have been proposed as to the mechanism of injury including decreased coronary perfusion, direct myocyte damage by pancreatic proteolytic enzymes, indirect parasympathetic injury, electrolyte derangements, and coronary vasospasms. Given the complexity of the clinical presentation, thorough subjective and objective evaluation can be vital in guiding diagnosis and possibly more invasive testing.
Key Messages
It is imperative that clinicians are aware that acute pancreatitis can mimic an acute myocardial infarction. Although we have started to better understand the pathological mechanisms for this phenomenon, further research focused on specific molecular target areas is needed.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted healthcare delivery to patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infraction (NSTEMI). The aim of our retrospective study is to determine the effect of COVID-19 on inpatient NSTEMI outcomes and to investigate whether changes in cardiac care contributed to the observed outcomes. After multivariate adjustment, we found that NSTEMI patients with COVID-19 had a higher rate of inpatient mortality (37.3% vs. 7.3%, adjusted odds ratio: 4.96, 95% CI: 4.6–5.4, p < 0.001), increased length of stay (9.9 days vs. 5.4 days, adjusted LOS: 3.6 days longer, p < 0.001), and a higher cost of hospitalization (150,000 USD vs. 110,000 USD, inflation-adjusted cost of hospitalization: 36,000 USD higher, p < 0.001) in comparison to NSTEMI patients without COVID-19, despite a lower burden of pre-existing cardiac comorbidity. NSTEMI patients with COVID-19 also received less invasive cardiac procedures (coronary angiography: 8.7% vs. 50.3%, p < 0.001; PCI: 4.8% vs. 29%, p < 0.001; and CABG: 0.7% vs. 6.2%, p < 0.001). In our study, we observed increased mortality and in-hospital complications to be a combined effect of COVID-19 infection and myocardial inflammation as a result of cytokine storm, prothrombic state, oxygen supply/demand imbalance and alterations in healthcare delivery from January to December 2020.
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