Management of Uncontrolled Atrial Fibrillation in COVID Patient

Abstract

COVID-19 virus does not directly affect the heart. The virus can cause systematic inflammation that can lead to severe cardiac complications like uncontrolled atrial fibrillation (AF), which carries high mortality among patients. We present a case of an 82-year-old female from nursing home with advanced dementia and multiple comorbidities. She initially screened negative for COVID-19 in the nursing home, however her repeat test was positive. Soon after admission she developed progressive, hypoxic respiratory failure and was subsequently diagnosed with ARDS and required endotracheal intubation. The patient was found to have uncontrolled AF on telemetry monitoring. Initially, intravenous calcium channel blockers were unsuccessful in controlling her heart rate, thus this was later changed to intravenous amiodarone. The patient was successfully extubated on day 15 and transferred to the general medical floor on antiarrhythmic medication for AF.