Outbreak of SARS-CoV-2: challenge for diagnosis and medical management in patients with left ventricular assist device: a case series

BACKGROUND: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exposes vulnerable patients to high risk of mortality. Patients with left ventricular assist device (LVAD) usually have symptoms such as cough, fever, and shortness of breath because of their cardiac condition and comorbidity, therefore these related symptoms challenge the correct diagnosis in time within the COVID-19 pandemic. CASE SUMMARY: We report two case studies of patients with LVAD in whom COVID-19 related symptoms were overlapped by their cardiac status and comorbidities. In the first case, the patient was admitted for suspicion of COVID-19 due to cough and shortness of breath for 1 month. The blood test evocated a high index of suspicion of COVID-19. The nasopharyngeal test for COVID-19 performed on admission and at Day 2 was inconclusive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), but the test obtained on Day 3 of admission was positive, whereas computed tomography confirmed the diagnosis of COVID-19. This patient developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and nasal epistaxis within 48 h during hospitalization. The ARDS was treated by non-invasive ventilation and probabilistic antibiotics for 3 days and resulted significant improvement. The nasal epistaxis due to international normalized ratio increase was treated by nasal packing and vitamin K antagonist was switched to parenteral heparin infusion. The patient was kept hospitalized for 1 month for further supportive treatment. In the second case, the patient was admitted for recurrent anaemia due to melaena, the patient was tested for COVID-19 because of new-onset symptoms of cough and rhinorrhoea. The first nasopharyngeal test was positive, and sudden increase of anticoagulation status was noted in the setting of gastrointestinal bleeding. The anticoagulation status was controlled by parenteral heparin infusion, and the melaena was disappeared at Day 3. The moderate dyspnoea of the patient was quickly improved with nasal oxygen delivery for 4 days. The patient was discharged at Day 5. DISCUSSION: COVID-19 specific symptoms are challenging to distinguish in patients with LVADs, although radiological evidence can be beneficial in the COVID-19 diagnosis. We also observed the need for precise anticoagulation control to avoid bleeding or thrombotic events in these patients.