Intensive care medicine

Emergency medicine

Engineering

Cardiology

Medical emergency

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Mechanical engineering

Collateral damage

Stroke (engine)

Myocardial infarction

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Criminology

Internal medicine

Sociology

Medicine

Pandemic

Disease

Journal of Cardiac Surgery

During the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency room visits have drastically decreased for non-COVID conditions such as appendicitis, heart attack, and stroke. Patients may be avoiding seeking medical attention for fear of catching the deadly condition or as an unintended consequence of stay-at-home orders. This delay in seeking care can lead to increased morbidity and mortality, which has not been figured in the assessment of the extent of damage caused by this pandemic. This case illustrates an example of “collateral damage” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. What would have been a standard ST-elevation myocardial infarction treated with timely and successful stenting of a dominant right coronary artery occlusion, became a much more dangerous postinfarction ventricular septal defect; all because of a 2-day delay in seeking medical attention by an unsuspecting patient.

Collateral damage of COVID‐19 pandemic: Delayed medical care