Rare heart attack-mimicking condition seen after COVID-19

A 17-year-old boy, Mete Karan, who was admitted to hospital with a sudden chest pain, has become the seventh person to be diagnosed with a condition observed after viral diseases such as COVID-19.

On Nov. 7, Mete, who started to experience blackouts, nausea, fever and sore throat and felt pain in his chest and left arm, attributed his symptoms it to a cold. However, when the pain intensified, his mother Karan took him to Acıbadem Kent Hospital Pediatric Cardiology Specialist Assoc. Dr. Önder Doksöz.

Karan was initially suspected of having a heart attack, however, after examination doctors found that he had regional myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle.

Doksöz warned that symptoms and findings mimicking a heart attack can be seen especially after viral diseases such as influenza and COVID-19 and advised patients with sudden onset chest pain to immediately consult the cardiology department.

"It is important to distinguish between myocarditis and heart attack because the treatment of the two is completely different," Doksöz said.

Doksöz stated that there were six reported cases of regional myocarditis seen after infection, none of which was of a child. Evaluating Karan as the seventh case, Doksöz said, "We commonly see a generalized deterioration in the heart muscle. In this patient, only the lower region of the heart is affected. There are one or two cases reported due to infections such as COVID-19. We aim to contribute academically by publishing the treatment process."