Late onset, hospital acquired infective endocarditis after COVID-19

Abstract

Scientists worked on the diagnosis and treatment of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in the beginning of the pandemic, which started in December 2019. However, as time goes by, we began to face the long-term complications of COVID-19. Arrhythmias, myocarditis, myocardial infarction, thromboembolic events are cardiovascular complications that we frequently encounter. Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2; attaches to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor to enter the cell, which is overexpressed in pericytes. This binding causes endothelial activation and inflammation. Inflamed endothelium becomes susceptible to attachment of microorganisms, particularly staphylococci, and may lead infection of endocardium and so infective endocarditis. There are cases of infective endocarditis described in the literature, that occur early or late after suffering from COVID-19. In this study, we mentioned about a case diagnosed as healthcare-associated infective endocarditis. The patient had a history of COVID-19 and hospitalization due to late complications and developed infective endocarditis after 10 days of discharge.