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Case Reports
. 2021 Jul 23:22:e933163.
doi: 10.12659/AJCR.933163.

A 29-Year-Old Man with COVID-19 Pneumonia, Heart Failure-Reduced Ejection Fraction, and Atrial Fibrillation with a Father and 2 Grandparents Who Were Positive for SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Said Hajouli  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

A 29-Year-Old Man with COVID-19 Pneumonia, Heart Failure-Reduced Ejection Fraction, and Atrial Fibrillation with a Father and 2 Grandparents Who Were Positive for SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Said Hajouli. Am J Case Rep. .

Abstract

BACKGROUND We report 4 family members, a 29-year-old son, 54-year-old father, 79-year-old grandmother, and 84-year-old grandfather, with COVID-19 pneumonia. Only the son had heart failure, with reduced ejection fraction and atrial fibrillation. This report aims to show that age and baseline comorbidities are not always predictors of severe COVID-19 disease. CASE REPORT Case 1: The son, a 29-year-old man, presented with dyspnea and palpitation. His nasopharyngeal swab was positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). He required high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy and had new-onset atrial fibrillation and reduced ejection fraction. Case 2: The father, a 54-year-old man, presented with dyspnea. Nasopharyngeal swab was positive for SARS-CoV-2. He required regular nasal cannula oxygen therapy. Electrocardiogram showed sinus rhythm. Echocardiogram showed normal ejection fraction. Case 3: The grandfather, an 84-year-old man with a history of atrial flutter, chronic kidney disease, and hypertension, presented with dyspnea and fever. Nasopharyngeal swab was positive for SARS-CoV-2. He required regular nasal cannula oxygen therapy. Electrocardiogram showed sinus rhythm. Echocardiogram showed normal ejection fraction. Case 4: The grandmother, a 79-year-old woman with a history of hypertension, presented with dyspnea. Nasopharyngeal swab was positive for SARS-CoV-2. She required regular nasal cannula oxygen therapy. Electrocardiogram showed sinus rhythm. CONCLUSIONS COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 is recognized to affect family members and can involve the heart, causing heart failure and cardiac arrhythmia like atrial fibrillation. This report highlights the importance of cardiac monitoring and consideration of cardiac damage, even without previous risk factors, in all hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared

Conflicts of Interest

None.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Case 1: EKG of the 29-year-old son on hospital admission in 2020. It shows atrial fibrillation with a heart rate of 109 beats per min.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Case 1: Chest computed tomography scan of the 29-year-old son on hospital admission in 2020. It shows extensive bilateral ground-glass opacities.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Case 1: Echocardiogram of the 29-year-old son on hospital admission in 2020. It shows elevated left atrial diameter to 6.1 cm (normal is 4.1 cm in males).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Case 1: Echocardiogram of the 29-year-old son on hospital admission in 2020. Elevated left ventricular internal diameter at end-systole (LVIDs) to 5.2 cm (normal range, 2–4 cm).
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Case 1: Echocardiogram of the 29-year-old son on hospital admission in 2020. It shows elevated enddiastole right and left ventricular internal diameters.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Case 1: Echocardiogram of the 29-year-old son in 2015. It shows normal left ventricular internal diamet
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Case 2: EKG of the 54-year-old father on hospital admission in 2020. It shows sinus rhythm with a rate of 84 beats per min.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Case 2: Chest X-ray of the 54-year-old father. It shows patchy bibasilar opacities.
Figure 9.
Figure 9.
Case 3: EKG of the 84-year-old grandfather. It shows atrial flutter with a varied AV block and a rate of 71 beats per min.
Figure 10.
Figure 10.
Case 4: EKG of the 79-year-old grandmother. It shows sinus rhythm with a heart rate of 94 beats per min.
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