The Appearance of an Underrecognized Congenital Heart Disease in a Patient With COVID-19 Pneumonia

Abstract

A 60-year-old woman presented to the emergency department with worsening shortness of breath and non-productive cough for 1 week, which was preceding a recent COVID-19 infection. At the time the patient thought this was part of the constellation of symptoms of COVID-19, so she stayed home until her symptoms worsened to the point of needing hospitalization. The patient was found to have a rare and complex congenital heart disease that led her to develop acute heart failure precipitated by COVID-19 pneumonia. Medical management and surgical repair were essential in this patient given the late presentation.