Cor Vasa 2023, 65(1):116-119 | DOI: 10.33678/cor.2022.064

Post‑infectious acute myocardial infarction following COVID‑19 infection in a young patient

Rodolfo Caminiti^{a, b}, Giampaolo Vetta^{a, c}, Antonio Parlavecchio^{a, b}, Michele Magnocavallo^c, Stefano Postorino^b, Scipione Carerj^a, Francesco Antonio Benedetto^b

^a Cardiology Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

^b Interventional Cardiology Unit, Department of Cardiology, Grande Ospedale Metropolitano "Bianchi-Melacrino-Morelli", Reggio Calabria, Italy

^c Department of Clinical, Internal, Anesthesiology and Cardiovascular Sciences, Policlinico Universitario Umberto I, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

It is now widely known that COVID-19 can also cause various extrapulmonary manifestations. Possible mechanisms of cardiovascular damage include direct myocardial damage due to hypercoagulability caused by systemic inflammation, which may also lead to destabilisation of coronary plaques. We present a case of a 30-year-old young man following asymptomatic COVID-19 infection, who was admit- ted to the emergency room of the Grande Ospedale Metropolitano di Reggio Calabria, Italy, with typical chest pain. The patient had no cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular risk factors including no family history of cardiovascular disease. Urgent coronary angiography showed critical stenosis of the middle-proximal portion of the left anterior descending artery (80%) with ulcerated plaque appearance. Regardless of cardiovascular risk factors, our case report emphasises the need to determine COVID-19 status in all patients with acute myocardial infarction during this pandemic.

Keywords: Acute myocardial infarction, Cardiovascular disease, COVID-19, Young patients,

Received: April 10, 2022; Revised: April 10, 2022; Accepted: June 2, 2022; Published: March 1, 2023  Show citation