Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, ER 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 COVID-19 pandemic. What would have been
a standard STEMI treated with timely and successful stenting of a
dominant right coronary artery occlusion, became a much more dangerous
post-infarction VSD; all because of a 2-day delay in seeking medical
attention by an unsuspecting patient.