A Case of Ventricular Fibrillation in Asymptomatic COVID-19

Amr Abdelradi1, Arshad Yekta2

  • 1Internal Medicine, Norwalk Hospital, Norwalk, USA.

Cureus
|August 2, 2021
PubMed

Insights

This report details a rare case of ventricular fibrillation (VF) arrest in an asymptomatic patient with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This finding is significant as it occurred without prior cardiac history or symptoms.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Critical Care Medicine

Background:

  • Cardiac involvement in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is recognized, particularly in severe cases among hospitalized patients.
  • Previous research has focused on cardiac complications in critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Observation:

  • A case of sudden cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation (VF) is presented.
  • The patient was asymptomatic and incidentally diagnosed with COVID-19.
  • The patient had no prior history of cardiac disease and a normal cardiac workup.

Findings:

  • This is the first reported instance of VF arrest in a patient with incidentally detected COVID-19.
  • The case highlights a potential, previously undocumented, cardiac manifestation of COVID-19 in an asymptomatic individual.

Implications:

  • This case suggests that COVID-19 may present with serious cardiac arrhythmias even in asymptomatic individuals.
  • Further investigation into subclinical cardiac effects of COVID-19 is warranted.
  • Clinicians should consider COVID-19 as a potential factor in unexplained cardiac arrests, even in the absence of typical symptoms.

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